Fatally Forbidden
by love97
Summary: FINISHED! The alliance is broken. Brooklyn and Manhattan loathe one another. But what if two citizens of each territory fall in love? RomeoJuliet.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Don't own.. Don't sue.

**A/N:** The idea of doing a newsie-like Romeo and Juliet came to me while we were taking notes on Shakespeare in English (I know, it has been done). There are few characters from the actual movie in this story because it's only loosely based on it. It could probably stand alone as its own, but it's way better with newsies involved in the mix, don't you think?! Most of the names are actual names as opposed to the fun nicknames; they're mostly English or French or along those lines, hehe! One is Shakespearian. And this prologue has been tweaked a bit, but most of it is from the actual play. Anyway, read and review! Hope you like it!!

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**Prologue**

Two territorial lands, both alike in dignity and pride,

On the streets of New York in which these two reside.

A broken alliance, once bound with trust,

Resulting in consequences of feats unjust.

From forth the fatal lives of these two foes

A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows

Do, with their death, bury their obligatory strife.

The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,

And the persistence of their rulers' rage,

Which, exception of their followers' end, never would be done.


	2. On the Streets

The boundary lines, set at the Brooklyn Bridge connecting the two foes, had long been drawn. They were not to be crossed unless one so bravely dared to pick a fight with a resident of the opposite region, causing one side of the river to rejoice and the other to weep. A coalition, once the strongest of all territories in New York, had been broken. Ties between the Manhattan newsboys and Brooklyn newsboys had weakened due to differences in politics. During one allied event the two saw eye-to-eye, although it took some persuasion at first. The strike had essentially strengthened the areas' bond, but in time and a few years later was shattered.

After a morning of selling papers and no ambition of returning to hawk the evening headlines, Jerome and Bailey, both of Brooklyn, headed toward the bridge to possibly find some trouble in midst of their boredom. To their surprise and delight, two of Manhattan's best, Mush and Blink, were hovering around the border, passing time and smoking cigarettes leisurely. Jerome and Bailey smiled devilishly at one another and approached them.

"Shouldn't you boys still be selling?" Jerome asked loudly to get their attention.

The two Manhattan-born quickly ceased to laugh and put on serious expressions as they eyed the two coming near them.

"From the looks of it, you could use the money," Bailey insulted rudely.

Anger rose in the affronted and placed their caps upon their heads.

"Got any reason to be over here?" Mush asked.

"We'd rather not waste our time dealing with those from across the river,"Blink stabbed, implying that Brooklyn was not worthy of coming to their terrain.

Jerome clenched his fists and stepped forward, shoving theBlink to the ground. Bailey followed suit with Mush, and soon they created a trivial fist fight, nothing at all unusual while dealing with the two rivalries. AsBlink got back up to fight with Jerome, he grabbed his cigarette and put it out on Jerome's forearm. Jerome let out a small cry of pain and grabbed his arm only to continue fighting.

Chase, a well-known newsboy in Manhattan, ran up to the small commotion in an attempt to break it up. He grabbed at the back of the boys' shirts, yanked them apart, and pushed them off one another.

"Will you guys stop these stupid fights? Damn!" Chase scolded in shouts as each boy brushed off their clothes and wiped small marks of blood away from their noses and lips. "I'm sick of always coming down here and doing this!"

"They started it," Mush accused childishly as he retrieved his dirty hat from the ground.

"You were too close to our turf!" Bailey argued in rebuttal.

"Like we said, we'd rather not waste our time with you jackasses!"

"You wanna say that again, pussy boy?" Bailey dared, getting into Malcolm's face.

Chase grabbed Bailey by the collar before getting too close and pushed him backward.

"Chase, don't you put another hand on him," interrupted a firm, distinguished voice from behind Bailey and Jerome.

"Stay out of this, Drake," Chase replied without letting go of his victim.

Bailey smirked into Chase's face upon the visitation of Drake, Chase's counterpart in Brooklyn. He was well-respected in his area and was kept close to the leader. Hot breath panted onto Chase's angered face as Bailey made an expression as if to challenge him to hurt him even more.

The unnerving sound of a cocked trigger and the cold feel brought on by the circular barrel of a dark black revolver against Chase's left temple loosened the grip on Bailey.

"Set him down, Chase," Drake ordered.

Reluctant and annoyed, Chase let go of Bailey and slightly pushed him backward.

"Thanks, Drake," Bailey thanked.

His expression of gratitude fell upon deaf ears as Drake did not lower his gun and stared directly at Chase, the loathing between them increasing with every passing second. Chase did not falter as his life was being threatened with the fatal device being pressed into his head; it was not uncommon to be involved in this type of situation.

"Brooklyn treating you all right?" Chase inquired as if trying to make friendly conversation.

Drake flipped a piece of his longish, straight black hair out of his evergreen eyes. "Can't complain. How's Manhattan?"

"Good until you fuckers got here," piped up Blink. He tossed his cigarette to the worn black boots of the one that held Chase's life in his hands. Insubordination was never-ending and common.

With irritation shining across his eyes, Drake shifted his outstretched arm to point-blank range toward Blink's forehead unswervingly between his eyes.Blink locked his gaze upon Drake, daring him to pull the trigger.

"Insult me again and I'll lodge this bullet right into your head and have no regrets, Kid."

Blinkstared him down without weakening or wavering. The familiar pistol belonging to Chase quickly came in contact to Drake's rigid jaw line.

"Set it down, Drake," commanded Chase.

"You better-"

Chase cocked the trigger, cutting off his words. "Set it down."

Hesitation settled above their heads as the late August afternoon sun melted onto the young men at the start of the bridge. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of Drake's face and onto the smooth barrel of Chase's deadly weapon.

"For now," Drake told him and pulled the gun away fromBlink who concealed the relief that had been lifted off his broad shoulders.

Chase put his pistol away as well in satisfaction. "I must say, Drake, I'm surprised and quite pleased."

Drake placed an icy glare upon him as he tucked the weapon back in the waistband of his brown wool pants. "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you."

"And why is that?" provoked Chase as he pushed his sandy blonde hair away from his sun-tanned face.

Sweat soaked the palms of Drake's hands as he clenched his fists. In a rapid movement he delivered a powerful clout to Chase's cheekbone, giving Chase grounds for punching Drake at the bridge of his nose. Blink, Mush, Jerome, and Bailey stood around them and formed a small circle, cheering each of their area representatives on to pound the other guy's face into the ground.

All the commotion, though, was slowed down as each of the borough's leaders made their way sprinting to the small congregation. Spot Conlon, the womanizing, rule-breaking, handsome and dashing leader of Brooklyn darted towards the fight with his latest girlfriend, Scarlet, trotting not too far behind. The red straps of his suspenders flapped at his sides and his shirt was only buttoned halfway, hinting at what he and Scarlet were up to before hand.

Coming in from the other direction was Jack Kelly, king of Manhattan and once charming and respectable leader; now a miserable and petulant emperor that was unable to move on from the newsboy occupation and had drank himself into an alcoholic depression. His light brown hair flew behind him as he sprinted down the street to the group of fighting boys. Behind him, jogging slowly as not to mess up her image, was the somewhat queen of Manhattan, Elle.

"What's all this about?" Jack asked, exasperated, at the sight of Chase and Drake on the ground throwing punches at one another.

Mush, Blink, Jerome, and Bailey stepped back and let the leaders take a look at the brawl. The presence of the higher-ups did not seem to deter the two on the ground as they continued to fight. Chase pinned Drake's shoulders to the ground, crouching over his stomach, and pulled a switchblade from his pocket and raised it above a struggling Drake.

"I'll take that." Spot snatched the blade from Chase's hands. "Kelly, what are your boys doing over here?"

Jack folded his arms over his chest and looked Spot in the eye. "Seems we're not quite in Brooklyn yet, Spot." He helped Chase off of Drake and back to his feet beside him.

Drake grabbed hold of Spot's offering hand and pulled himself up. "They started it."

Spot pointed a finger at Drake's face. "I don't give a fuck who started it! I'm sick of dealing with this stupid shit!" Drake furrowed his eyebrows at him and bit his lip.

"Maybe if you weren't busy 'screwing around', you could keep yours inside the borders, Conlon," Jack insulted, the scent of his gin-soaked breath floating into the air. Elle, a vision of dark makeup and blonde hair, placed a hand on her hip and pointed up her nose at Spot.

Spot smirked and stepped toward Elle. He stood merely inches from her face, his luminous blue eyes gazing into her charcoal-laden brown orbs. He brushed a finger against her cheek and let it fall downward, brushing the precariously low neckline of her dress. The contact of his rough hands sent shivers up Elle's spine and a look a blushing disgust to her face. Before Spot could have the life beaten out of him by Jack for getting to close to his possession, he whipped out the blade that belonged to Chase and held it in front of her face. Elle released a barely audible gasp at the sudden sight of the blade's polish in the sunlight.

"See to it that this gets back to Chase, would you, love?" he whispered in a low and suggestive voice.

Flattery encompassed her face for a split second, soon followed by repulsion as she grabbed the knife out of his hand and slapped him across the face. Spot turned his cheek quickly and twisted it back to Elle with a simper dancing across his lips.

Jack intervened before any more harm could be done and grabbed Spot by the collar, shoving him backward and causing him to stumble a bit.

"Keep it in your fucking pants, Spot."

Muttering obscenities under his breath, Spot paced back to his Brooklyn natives. He stopped in front of Scarlet, his fair-skinned, dark-haired flavor of the week. Burying his hand in her chocolate brown hair at the nape of her neck, he kissed her deeply while the others looked on in repugnance.

"Let's go, boys," Spot said once they parted.

"Next time this won't be as friendly," Jack called behind them.

The trifling caution was not heard as they made their way home across the river.


	3. Proposal

Spot and Scarlet made their way home through the busy streets of the city and into the three-story, newly renovated newsboy lodging house. It had been nearly three years since Spot stopped waking up at dawn and going down to the distribution office to earn a living. As an alternative to being the poor newsboys' leader, he stuck around and continued to reign as the ruler. He had his ways of making money and mysterious ways they were. At random times he would shower his boys with gifts and recently he refurbished the lodging house with new paint, updated furniture, and a more pleasant overall look in general. Spot did not like to admit that he was looked down upon by society; he was above that. Nobody exactly knew how he obtained such amounts of money and nobody ever asked, but they had no reason for complaints.

After a discussion with Drake, Jerome, and Bailey about having to baby-sit them with the frivolous little fights, Spot stepped up the porch steps of the house with Scarlet tagging along closely at his side. They walked through the narrow doorway and up the tapered staircases to the third floor.

"That Jack Kelly really bugs the shit out of me," Spot whined as his fingers found their way to Scarlet's slender hips, pinching them and rubbing them seductively.

Scarlet faced him in the constricted, wooden-floored corridor and placed her hands on either side of his chest, her deep brown eyes gazing into his.

"He never used to be such an ass," Spot continued.

"I know, honey." Scarlet rubbed his chest gently and up to the collar of his crimson red button-down shirt.

"And it's so fucking hot in this house!" he complained further and threw his head back stressfully.

"It _is_ a bit sizzling in here," agreed Scarlet. She unbuttoned the rest of his shirt as Spot slid his hands underneath her black blouse. He picked her up and walked her into his room at the end of the hallway, shutting the door forcefully with his foot.

A round of knocks came to the door as Spot and Scarlet lay entwined on the dark ruby sheets of Spot's bed. Spot ignored the sound and kissed Scarlet's neck impatiently.

The knocking picked up again, failing to disturb Spot again. Scarlet yanked the shirt off his masculine body.

Yet again the knocking sounded, finally tearing Spot away in enraged irritation as he stomped over to the door, swinging it open with vigor. "What the fuck do you want?"

Theo, Spot's second-in-command, leaned against the opposite wall of the hall, his arms folded over his chest. He wore an expression of thorough annoyance, a look only someone in his position could get away with. "Am I interrupting something?"

Spot stepped out of the doorway and allowed him to enter the room.

"Hear you had to break up another fight today," Theo started as he took a seat at the small lounge chair in the corner.

"Yeah…" Spot trailed off. He walked over to his dusty desk and grabbed a cigarette, lighting it quickly. He pulled out the thin wooden chair and sat in it, relaxing himself in his cigarette as he stuck it in his mouth. "So, what's up?"

"You're having that big party tonight, right?" Theo asked.

"Shit, I completely forgot." He breathed a large puff of smoke out of his mouth. He turned to Scarlet who was calmly hunting for her shirt around the bed. "Why didn't you remind me?" he asked her loudly, the volume of his voice increasing.

Scarlet simply sighed and slipped her arms through her shirt sleeves once she found it again.

Spot ran his hand through his hair and took a breath. "Actually it'll be all right. I got some people delivering and setting up today."

Scarlet hopped off the bed and walked toward him, her hair a disheveled mess. He wrapped his arm around one of her shoulders and rubbed it around the back of her neck to the other one, and kissed her fiercely on the lips. "Sorry, babe."

Scarlet snatched the cigarette from his hands and inhaled. "Don't worry about it." She slowly blew the smoke out in his direction, a wisp of lust and seduction.

Theo cleared his throat, reminding them he was still in the room.

"What about the party?" Spot asked.

"You've invited what, half of Brooklyn?"

Spot shrugged and nodded.

"Does that include your 'finest of kin'?" Theo's voice was hinting.

"Are you talking about Adriette?"

Theo nodded slightly. "She'll be there right?" He rose to his feet and began pacing around the room pensively.

"I guess. She usually comes to these things not unlike the rest of my cousins."

"Good. I don't think I'd make an appearance if she wouldn't be there. A fine catch she is in my opinion."

"Make an appearance? I think you're forgetting who's hosting the party," Spot laughed. "But yes, a 'fine catch'."

"Loyal, charming, strikingly gorgeous…"

"So you want me to hook you guys up, is that what you're asking me to do?" Spot looked at him knowingly, not too thrilled about the idea.

Theo turned and looked at him. "It'd be more than just a hook-up, Conlon." He looked at his pocket watch. "Gotta go. See you tonight." He tipped his hat and exited the room.

Spot took a long drag of his cigarette and walked toward the window, peering out into the streets that were crowded with people. He recognized many to be his devoted newsboys strolling around and one petite figure in the crowd promenading around with her friends. Scarlet snaked her hands over his smooth six-pack abs from behind and rested her head against the side of his bicep.

"You think he wants to marry her or something?" Spot asked. "Adriette's a little young. She's barely fifteen and Theo's just over twenty. She could do better."

"I'm sure you'd benefit much from this marriage, though, Conlon."

"Meaning…?"

"Meaning if Theo takes over as leader, seeing as how you are getting a bit old, and he marries Adriette, you'll have family to keep you up there above everyone else."

Spot took a final drag of his cigarette and threw it to the ground. Scarlet had a point.


	4. Party Crashers

**Twilight-**Long time, no "see"! Thanks for picking this one up and reading!!

**A/N:** I was looking up baby names, my cousin is pregnant hehe, and found the name Conlan. Did you know it means hero?? I think they spell it with an o instead of an a in the movie, but I thought that was a little amusing.

Orlando jumped down from his tattered mattress bunked bed and onto the creaky wooden floor, creating a small thud in his landing. A strong yawn escaped from his mouth as he stretched his back, ruffling his shaggy brown hair in the process. The day was just beginning and slowly but surely, the newsboys of Manhattan emerged from their bunks. Orlando grabbed his pants and pulled them on over his pajamas. He looked at his friend, Caden, still snoozing on the bottom bunk. While buttoning his cream-colored shirt, he nudged Caden's shoulder with his foot.

"Wake up, man!" he said loudly.

Caden groaned and turned to the other side.

"Gotta go to work," Orlando tried to encourage. After slipping his feet into his brown leather boots, he walked to the end of the bed and promptly pulled the covers off.

Caden grunted angrily and sat up quickly, giving his friend the finger. He rubbed his dark green eyes and reluctantly got out of bed.

Humidity suffocated the air of the city as the newsboys trudged through the streets to the distribution office to pick up their papers. Orlando and Caden traipsed along slowly as Chase accompanied them at their side, expressing his hatred toward Brooklyn.

"I'd rather kill them one by one slowly so they can suffer than wipe them out entirely," Chase told them.

"No doubt that would be a good day," Orlando agreed. He twirled his brown hat around his fingers. "Have you guys heard they're having another one of their parties tonight? Christ, Conlon spoils them to the brim. How the hell does pay for all that shit?"

"Drugs. Robbery. Underground whore ring. I don't know. He doesn't even work, the lazy-ass piece of shit. He probably makes his own boys pay him."

"Probably."

Caden let out a discontented sigh.

"What's up with him?" Chase whispered to Orlando.

"Rose dumped him a few days ago. He's been depressed and on the verge of suicide ever since."

Chase rolled his eyes. "She was a whore, Caden, let it go. She treated you like shit."

"She wasn't a whore," Caden mumbled miserably. "I…"

"Loved her?" Orlando finished. "No, Caden, you didn't. You think you love everyone. Stop thinking about it."

They walked a few moments in silence, the fog having no disturbance as to where they were going. As they rounded a corner, they stumbled upon Jack, their so-called fearless leader. Jack was leaning against a brick wall, hardly awake with red glassy eyes and a tall bottle of whiskey in his hand. His clothes were untidy and unkempt and his scruffy face looked as though it had not been shaved for a few days. Most likely he hadn't made it to bed the previous night.

"You boys better hurry up," Jack slurred once he saw the three. "Papers are gonna run out."

"Sure they will, Jack," Chase agreed sarcastically. "Late night yesterday?"

Jack downed a large guzzle of whiskey without saying anything. "I hear it's gonna be a big night tonight over the bridge. Anyone up for crashing a party?" he joked with a drunken smile across his face.

"Sorry, no can do," Chase responded. "We'll see you later, Kelly."

Jack walked past them, nodding and taking frequent swigs of his drink.

"That is depressing, let me tell you. Why hasn't anyone taken his position yet? He's been like that for almost a year now." Chase shook his head. "Pathetic."

The office came into view as they neared it and the fairly-sized, newsboy population entered through its gates to buy the papers for the day.

"Jack has a point, you know," Orlando spoke out of the blue.

Chase and Caden looked at him, puzzled.

"The party. We could sneak in and cause a little mayhem, if you catch my drift." Orlando smiled widely and mischievously.

Caden rolled his eyes while Chase looked up and pondered the idea. It seemed like a good thought in his opinion.

"That definitely wouldn't work, Orlando," Caden told him. "The people over there are already out for blood as it is and they know who we are. We couldn't just waltz right in there and hope not to be noticed."

Chase sighed and looked at Chase. "Not necessarily. Besides, you need to have a little fun especially since the 'love of your life' just broke your fucking heart."

"And you could maybe meet a girl or two at the party," Orlando added, his ideas bouncing off those of Chase.

Caden wore an expression that read he was unsure and had a bad feeling about it. He looked down to the ground and shook his head, sighing. "All right. But you have to make sure we won't get caught. If we do, we're as good as dead." He looked sternly at the two of them.

"Understood completely," Orlando replied, his smile growing bigger and his blue eyes sparkling with delight.

"You don't have to worry, Caden." Chase put his arm around his friend's shoulder. "You're in good hands."


	5. Welcome to the Dark Side

Adriette stood in front of the small vanity mirror in her fairly small chamber of the third floor bedroom. As one of the few cousins of Spot in Brooklyn, she received special treatment. The noise of party preparations sounded from downstairs as Spot's crew of planners finalized things for the celebration and attendees started to arrive. Adriette ran her thin fingers through her long auburn hair and shook out the modest amount of tangles at the ends. Borrowed from Scarlet, she found it difficult to breathe in the corset tied tightly around her torso. Her dark red dress with black lace over it hugged her slender body and the subtle hints of black eye makeup made her light blue eyes stand out. A few soft knocks came to the door as Adriette called them in.

Scarlet stepped into the room in a low-cut, dark turquoise fitted dress with her dark hair pulled up into a high, bouncy ponytail. "Can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure." Adriette made her way over to her bed and sat down on the small mattress. She bent over and laced up her black heeled boots securely, attempting to look uninterested and lax; she hated Spot's girls that tried to warm up to her as if they were her mom, seeing as how she was the only female cousin of the leader.

"You know everyone and their brother will be at this party tonight," Scarlet reminded her. "It's the biggest one we've had in a while."

"Uh-huh." Adriette yanked the second boot up her ankle.

"Everyone including Theo. You know him, right?"

"Yeah." Adriette stood up and smoothed out her dress. "He's a nice guy, always been polite to me."

Scarlet smiled softly and walked over to Adriette, her heels clicking against the wooden floorboards loudly. She stood behind her and gathered Adriette's hair to tie it back with a black ribbon. "He seems to have taken quite an interest in you."

Adriette turned around, looked at her, and cocked her head to the side.

"I was talking to Spot today and he agrees with me: you and Theo would be perfect together. Don't you think so?"

Blinking a few times and looking puzzled, Adriette responded, "I don't know him that well. I'd have to decide later." She walked over to her vanity once more and adjusted her makeup and dress.

"Well, Theo will be at the party tonight. You should talk to him."

"All right. I will if I see him." Adriette turned to face Scarlet who had a look of aggravation about her.

"Adriette, we need you make it work with Theo. He's a good man." Scarlet placed her hands on her shoulders.

"What do you mean you 'need'? Did my cousin put you up to this? What is going on?" Adriette shifted her weight to her right leg and placed her hand on her hip.

"_Spot and I_ just think it would be best that if you were to consider someone, Theo would be the best choice for a husband."

"Husband?" Adriette stepped back in almost disbelief. "Who said I was getting married? I've never even mentioned or thought about marriage."

"Stop overreacting!"

"Sorry if I overreact when someone tells me who to marry!" Adriette said sarcastically.

"You're right. I'm sorry."

While Adriette stood in front of Scarlet, not wanting to believe a word she was saying, Spot trotted into the room. He looked handsome and attractive in his new black suit and white collared shirt that was buttoned halfway revealing inches of his sun-bronzed chest Already Adriette could tell he was not completely sober.

"Ready, ladies?" he smiled and swaggered over to Scarlet, his eyes immediately attracted to the sight of turquoise cleavage and lust-filled splendor in front of him. He grasped her hip bones and drew them towards him, enticing a tiny squeal of delight from her. "Babe, let's skip right to the after party," he whispered seductively into her ear.

Scarlet giggled annoyingly as its sound rang in Adriette's ears incessantly. Adriette cleared her throat, reminding them of her presence.

"Sorry." Spot pulled away from Scarlet and looked at Adriette. "Did you guys have that little talk?"

"Yes, Spot, I'll talk to Theo," Adriette sighed reluctantly. "I can't guarantee anything, though."

Spot gripped Adriette's arm gently. "He's a good guy. You two will be very happy together. I also hear he's good in bed, but I don't know."

Adriette scoffed and pulled her arm away, disgusted at her cousin's inappropriate joke.

"I'm kidding, Adriette!" he slurred slowly. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her lovingly. "You'll love him." He pulled away and snaked his arm low around Scarlet's waist as she twisted the back of his hair. "Now let's get to this party I know everyone is fuckin' _dying_ to be at!"

Not far in the distance was the party crew finishing to bring in everything to the house as Chase, Orlando, and Caden made their way to the celebration. Brooklynites, mostly consisting of newsboys and their dates, poured in from the streets as the building was practically busting at the seams. Cheerful and upbeat music played loudly, its ragtime sound creeping out into the streets. Delicate clouds faded into the background of the starry night sky with the full white moon at the center as laughter and chatter filled the air.

"All right, follow me," Orlando instructed as he lowered his black hat over his eyes and tucked his hair underneath it. "I know a way we can get in."

Chase and Caden did as followed and slinked their way to behind the lodging house. The three young men looked like bandits about to commit a heinous crime; they were each wearing a relatively nice suit and a hat that tipped down over their eyes in efforts to obscure their true identities as the hated ones from over the bridge. And just for added protection, a revolver was tucked safely into each of the boys' pockets hidden to the eye.

The bushes rustled a bit as they ducked down and hurriedly scampered to the back door, the loading dock for drinks. They crouched down beneath the shrubs and kept an eye on Orlando to see what he would do next. For a few moments they sat in the dirt and waited for the okay.

After two minutes of praying to God not to be caught, Orlando poked his head above the almost dead plants and motioned for Chase and Caden to follow. The two looked at each other and soon tailed Orlando who was strolling up to the back porch, his cap still dipping below his eyes.

"Need help with that?" Orlando asked one of the few party workers who were carrying crates into one of the rooms.

The boy looked at Orlando's dress attire and puzzled his face. "Sure, but aren't you here for the party?"

Chase and Caden slowly made their way behind Orlando and stood to the side, prepared to run if their true selves were to be revealed.

"Yeah, well, we got here a little early, decided to go in through the back. We didn't want to make too big of an entrance, ya know?"

The boy squinted at Orlando.

"Don't worry about it; we'll help you guys out." Orlando took the heavy crate full of beer and other alcohol from the worker. He nodded to Chase and Caden.

"Yeah, it'll be fine," Chase added and picked up another crate.

"Sorry, you just can't trust a whole lot of people these days," the employee responded and handed a box to Caden.

"Yeah, like those damn Manhattan boys!" Chase played along. "Can't trust them as far as you can throw them, ya know what I mean?"

"No kidding," the boy agreed.

A snicker escaped from Caden's once pouted and moping lips as they stepped into the house. They followed some other staff members into a small room to put down the boxes that would be completely empty by the end of the night.

The deafening noise filled the ears of the three foreigners as they strode into the party area. Booze and liquor were flowing nonstop as the carefree partygoers enjoyed yet another one of Spot's famous bashes in high spirits. Promiscuous couples snuck into hidden rooms and wedged themselves to the narrow hallways. Hilarity and joviality was at an all-time high as the sound of banjo and other ragtime instruments came from the parlor area.

Orlando stood in between Chase and Caden, placing a hand on each of their shoulders as they observed the revelry in front of their eyes. "Welcome to the dark side, gentlemen."


	6. Beauty till this Night

**Twilight-**Can't trust those boys, now can you?!

**A/N:** So what's up with not posting my story?! I don't know…All I know is that I have updated about 4 times and they haven't put it on the page thing. **Technical problems** (well, more like I'm **dumb**) the chapter "Party Crashers" is supposed to go before "Welcome to the Dark Side". I accidentally submitted the second one without the first. It doesn't change the story too much, but yeah. It should be in order: Prologue, On the Streets, Proposal, Party Crashers, and Welcome to the Dark Side. When I realized that, I was like oh shit. Anyway, read and enjoy! Drop a review my way if you feel like it…hint hint

**P.S. **Shakespearian quotes will be in italics. I realize they probably wouldn't say these as newsboys and stuff, but its fun hehe. This chapter is a bit long, by the way!

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The king of Brooklyn himself was finally about to make is long awaited appearance. Socializing and chatting up a storm, the guests squeezed into the house for Spot and his latest girl to come down, so the party could officially begin. The majority of the attendees were near the entrance of the house in the living room, hallways, and at the foot of the steps. The staircase was left untouched.

Chase and Caden tagged on to Orlando as he weaved his way in and out, unsure of where to go. The Brooklynites were rude and impolite while the boys scooted through the mass gathering of people. They ended up, after much suffocation and shoving, just inside the doorframe.

"Thank god Kelly doesn't throw us these fucking things," Chase said.

Caden and Orlando looked at him, wide-eyed. An enemy newsboy looked at Chase with a perplexed and guarded face. Orlando shoved his hand in his pocket, double-checking that he had his gun safely hidden in there.

"I mean-ya know, Kelly, my girlfriend Kelly. Thank god she doesn't love me this much!" Chase recovered hopefully, pretending to dab sweat away from his brow.

The newsboy squinted at him and turned away to look at the staircase. Chase looked the other way and felt extremely grateful that they hadn't been caught. Caden punched him in the arm angrily.

"Fuck, Chase!" Orlando shouted in whispers. "Are you trying to…I mean, God!" He couldn't finish his statement as the frustration built up and suspicions would arise. Caden smacked them both to stop before people would find them out. He lowered his hat down even more and leaned against the wall.

A sudden wave of claps and cheers erupted around them as their attention was brought to the main staircase. The legendary Spot Conlon was slowly walking down the creaky steps with Scarlet attached to his arm. He raised free arm in gratitude and arrogantly soaked in the appreciation. Scarlet, the most hated girl in the room at the moment, smiled with her cherry red lips and stepped proudly down the stairs.

"Thank you, thank you!" Spot yelled haughtily and snootily. He smiled widely as he got to the last step and the applause continued.

A boy walking around with a tray full of shot glasses passed him and Spot quickly picked one up for himself, throwing his head back and taking in the alcohol quickly. He lifted his glass far above his head and screamed, "It's all Brooklyn tonight, baby!"

The statement only incited even more noise. Spot grinned, wrapped his arm around Scarlet's shoulders, and smacked one her lips.

"Fuck Manhattan!" a male voice sounded from the crowd.

"Fuck yes!" Spot responded as he stole somebody's cigarette from their hand casually and started to make the rounds with Scarlet, greeting guys with a handshake and pat on the shoulder, and the girls with a meaningless kiss on the lips or cheek.

"You think he throws these things often?" Orlando commented sarcastically, drawing a short chuckle from Chase and Caden.

"So, now what?" Caden asked as the music picked up again and people started to mingle throughout the entire building, giving everyone more room to breathe.

"I know what I'm gonna go do," Orlando answered as he further concealed his true identity and hopped over to the poker table where a tournament was just beginning.

Adriette moved down the staircase, thankful not to make an entrance like Spot had previously done. Dutifully, she began to search the area for Theo. She smiled sweetly at the acquaintances greeting her and occasionally gave them a quick hug.

"Evening, miss," a familiar male voice filled her ears from behind her.

Wanting to roll her eyes and punch him, she resisted, turned on the Conlon charm, and grinned as she turned around to be squished up against her alleged future husband.

"Good evening, Theo."

"All the stars in the sky tonight don't compare," he told her suavely and kissed her the back of her hand.

_Gag me, gag me, _she thought to herself. "How sweet of you," she said as she slowly took her hand away and clasped it with the other behind her back. "Are you having a good time?"

"Now that I've found you, yes."

Adriette clenched her jaw and screwed in a smile. She observed his features; his dark brown suit was well put together, his hazel eyes beamed longingly into hers, the corners of his lips had turned up slightly into a half smile, and the only out-of-place hair fell across his forehead. He clasped his hat in his hands, thinking it would be rude to converse with a young lady while wearing one. He was the only polished newsboy in New York and Adriette saw why they wanted her to marry him. She hated that thought.

"Will you excuse me, just one second, please?" she asked sweetly.

Theo nodded and she shoved her way through to the staircase.

Caden sighed as he blew a loose piece of hair out of his eyes. Things were not going as planned; he was not having a good time and so far he hadn't been "hooked up" with anyone. All the girls at the party were already involved with someone and having no problem showing their affection. He sat on a wooden chair on the front porch and looked out onto the streets. The bridge was barely visible from where he was and he thought about making is way toward it to go home. Orlando was engrossed in an intense game of poker, which had drawn many to watch the strange and unfamiliar eighteen-year-old that was winning back his year's salary as a newsboy. Chase was nowhere to be found and as soon as that thought zoomed across Caden's mind, he jumped up and began to search for him. Chase was not one to be left alone in enemy territory.

Each step squeaked with every tread up the stairs as Caden made his up way up to the second and third levels.

Across the room at the entrance of the living room was Drake. He had a stone cold look on his face as he espied the young man making his way up the stairs of his lodging house. He grabbed Spot, who was drunkenly trying to play the fiddle, and pointed to Caden. Spot cocked his head and stared at him dumbfounded. Drake started to pull the pistol out of his trouser pocket.

"No damn Manhattans are coming to my fucking party," he growled.

"Let it go, man!" Spot pushed the gun down away from him. "The only thing dying tonight is my sobriety."

Drake sighed heavily and became frustrated. He stomped over to the corner and grabbed a beer from one of the crates.

Upstairs on the second floor Caden wandered around the hallway in exploration of Chase. He opened random doors, taking a quick peek inside, and closed them again. Stopping at the end of the hallway and wiping a bead of sweat away from his forehead, he inhaled slowly and took a breath. He was starting to get concerned and fearful of his own safety. Why were they doing this? This was such a bad idea. They were all going to be shot and killed by dawn tomorrow morning.

And then he turned his head to the opposite end of the long hallway.

Standing in the faintly lit corridor near the window with the moon as its background was the woman he was destined to spend the rest of his life with. She hadn't made eye contact with him as she stood at an angle, peering out into the city. Her soft hair was softly thrown back out of her fair and captivating face. Enchanting she was as her reflection cast itself upon the casement. Caden stopped in his tracks; he could not breathe, he could not think, and he could not move. All thoughts of past loves vanished from his love struck mind as he was mesmerized and rapt within the immersed intensity of the emotion he was feeling at that moment.

"_Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight. For I never saw true beauty till this night."_

She moved and Caden caught his breath. He locked his gaze upon her as she started toward the staircase leading below. In pursuit of his love, he jogged toward the flight of stairs. Her gentle hand slid upon the banister as she slowly stepped downward. Not to let her go, Caden placed his hand softly upon hers. Adriette turned her head to him.

"_If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."_

Adriette's eyes shined brightly with his as he spoke to her almost inaudibly. She, too, was in love. Her light blue eyes locked upon the dark green orbs that Caden possessed. The dim lighting presented nearly a glow over his soft brown hair and tender features. Sounds of the merrymaking downstairs quieted to oblivion as the only reverberations she could her were her heart beating rapidly and the absence of her own breath that had been swept away at the very sight of Caden.

"_Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this; for saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."_

As much as she wanted to proclaim her certain undying love for him, Adriette had to keep her self-respect.

"_Have not saint's lips and holy palmers too?"_ Caden stepped below to her level, still almost a head taller than she. Their hands did not move from one another.

"_Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer."_

"_O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do; they pray - grant thou, lest faith turn to despair." _Caden moved closer to her slowly.

"_Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake."_

"_Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged."_

Their faces passionately involved with each other, they closed the gap between them by the meeting of their lips.

"_Then have my lips the sin that they have took," _Adriette whispered once parted.

"_Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again."_ Caden delicately placed his hands at the back of her neck and kissed her again, more passionately and intimately.

A female voice sounding from the first floor returned them to the real world.

"Adriette!" Lexi called, the best friend of Adriette. She hurried up the steps toward them. "Your cousin needs you."

Adriette looked at Caden and took her hand from underneath his and left for the Spot. Caden put his hand upon his chest as if trying to make sure he was still alive after the love stricken shock he had just experienced. Lexi was gradually becoming less sober with each passing moment. She took a seat on a step at Caden's feet, releasing a sigh.

"Who is her cousin?" Caden asked.

"As if you don't already know: Spot Conlon, of course."

Caden dropped his jaw as his vision became hazy. _"My life is my foe's debt."_

A splitting gunshot sliced through the black air from outside. The pits of Caden's stomach sank and he abruptly began to race down the stairs. There was not too much of a disturbance as the mass of people turned their heads but turned the other way again. Caden rammed through the crowd as he ran out to the porch.

Orlando joined him at his side, out of breath and clutching a bug full of coins.

"Chase?" Caden asked him, scared of the answer.

"Probably." They bolted off the porch and around to a dark corner of the house where Chase stood wiping off his suit and his gun smoking in his grip. His expression was not one of particular shock or fear. His lower lip was bleeding and his eye was starting to swell. Orlando and Caden stopped hastily at the sight. A Brooklyn boy lay dead and bleeding from the chest on the ground.

"He started it," Chase told them calmly.

"Are you fucking crazy?!" Orlando shouted.

Fast footsteps sounded from the porch and the three Manhattan boys made a break for it. Chase set off for the east, the direction of the bridge. Orlando yanked the collar of his shirt back toward him as he and Caden start to bolt to the south.

"They're sure to catch us if we run there," Orlando told them in between breaths as they sprinted for their lives through alleys and buildings.

* * *

"Why were you with that boy?" Lexi asked a few minutes after seeing Adriette with Caden at the steps.

"What?"

"At the top of the staircase. Do you know who he is?"

Adriette smiled dreamily. "The man I am to be with for the rest of my life."

Lexi grasped her arm and pulled her close to whisper. "You were kissing Caden, a Manhattan."

Adriette's eyes widened and her face went pale. She looked in front of her blankly as the words set in. Tears welled in her eyes as her vision was blurry, and she whispered to herself, "_My only love sprung from my only hate. Too early seen unknown, and known too late. Prodigious birth of love it is to me, that I must love a loathed enemy."_


	7. A Rose by any Other Name

_'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;  
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. (2.2.39)  
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,  
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part  
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!  
What's in a name? That which we call a rose  
By any other name would smell as sweet_

As the celebrations died down on the lower levels and the time rounded out to three o'clock in the morning, Adriette sat upon her bed still in her dress for the night. She slowly unlaced her boots that had formed tiny blisters on her toes while Lexi rested her curly red head on the pillows. A few lone instruments played downstairs and there was a fair share of guests still partying. Many had either passed out or fallen asleep in the rooms, in the halls, or anywhere they could find. The corpse of the newsboy in the alley that had been inanely killed by Chase had been carried out and hidden temporarily as not to daunt the joyous mood that had been spread infectiously throughout the night. Adriette sighed and slipped off her boots.

"Did you have fun, Lex?" she asked, staring out into her window and not behind her.

"Mhm," Lexi mumbled tiredly. Her eyes struggled to stay open as she lay curled up in a small ball over the blanket. Her strawberry blonde tresses had fallen from its intricate hairdo and pieces fell to her shoulders. Makeup started to smudge underneath her eyes and her dress was loose. With each breath, a faint scent of mixed alcohol escaped from her lips.

"I can't go through with it," Adriette vented. Her eyes fixed upon the full moon shining just outside beyond the fire escape. "I can't be with Theo."

"Why not? I'd wanna be with him. I hear he's good in bed," Lexi answered.

Adriette rolled her eyes. "It's so easy for you to say that. You don't have any fucking commitments."

"What're you talking about?"

"Nothing," she said with a sigh. "There may be a…bump in the road with Theo. Something…came up."

The recent memory of Caden speaking those words to her played in her head. His hands were soft and gentle, and his voice was a melody of romance and heart. Eyes the color of a Christmas tree melted into hers. Then she had kissed him; she had kissed him and she knew he was hers for the taking, despite the area in which he resided. With a beautiful rush charging through her insides, she got to her feet and opened the window.

The cool summer breeze gushed over Adriette and caused the ribbon to fall out of her hair and her locks to fall as well. She looked over her shoulder to see Lexi now completely out, and climbed out of the window onto the rickety fire escape, closing the window behind her. She grasped the ledge and looked out onto the almost empty streets.

"Why must he be of Manhattan?" Adriette questioned to herself. "And why must I have Brooklyn flowing through my veins?" Her grip on the ledge tightened until she winced in pain. "Caden," she whispered and closed her eyes. She thought of his kiss again. "If you were here you would know how badly I wish the relation I have with Spot didn't exist. If you were here you would know how much in love I am with you and how I know I should be with you rather than Theo." She lowered her head. "Why did I let you get away?"

A sudden voice appeared in the shadows of the streets. "All is as it should be, then, and I'm not going anywhere."

Adriette looked down to the street to see that the voice belonged to Caden. All of her regrets and sorrow vanished as the sight brought a smile to her face. "Caden!"

He smiled up at her in response with the same amount of thankfulness.

"What are you doing? They'll kill you once they find you!" Adriette whispered.

"Let them kill me!" Caden proclaimed. "At least I got to see you!"

A broken bottle crashed to the ground inside the house and Adriette waved for him to go to the end of the fire escape. Caden did as was told and met her on the bottom steps in a passionate embrace.

"A name," Caden said. "I must know your name." He held her close to him and she placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Adriette."

"Conlon?"

She closed her eyes at the sound of the words. "Only by blood."

"It doesn't matter." He hastily held the back of her neck and brought her toward him in a deep and romantic kiss.

"And you, Caden, are from Manhattan, I know," Adriette told him in between kisses and breaths. "As well, it doesn't matter anymore."

A group of intoxicated guests stumbled out into the streets and tripped over one another. Caden pushed himself and Adriette to the side of the lodging house, unseen. The space between them was cramped with little room for separation; grass and dirt lay underneath them and leaves from a tree hung over them.

"They'll catch us," Adriette whispered cautiously.

"We'll be okay," he reassured her and brought a finger to her lips.

His guarantee eased her as she held him dearly until the people passed.

"Caden, I'm supposed to be with you; I know this for a fact."

"We _will_ be together, Adriette. I swear on my heart."

More people began to fall out off the porch. Caden and Adriette moved further back from view.

"You have to go, you can't be seen," Adriette warned.

Caden brought his lips to hers in a long-lasting kiss before he began sneaking through the trees to the other side. He turned back to Adriette before turning the corner. "I love you, Adriette," he called.

"I love you!" she replied and blew him a kiss.

Caden disappeared behind the building and Adriette climbed back up to her room.


	8. Ironies and Alcohol

**Twilight-**Once I read your review I realized I definitely should have used Blink, Mush, and all them in this story. Go back to the first chap! But they're making their way! Don't worry! They're mentioned in this chapter, but you WILL see them! They don't have huge parts, because it takes place years after the strike. A Brooklyn purse?! Dude that's sweet! Where'd you get it??

**Brunette-**Thanks a bunch for reviewing! I love your story too! hehe. Lexi is the cutest name for a girl! Tell your sister I like it lol.

**A/N:** I haven't updated in a while because I've been buried in a research paper I'm working on for English. I'm hoping that writing about boring-ass politics will help me to write some of this! Stress acts as a catalyst with writing sometimes, in my opinion at least. All right, so on with the story! Thischapter isn't too exciting, but, oh, the next chapters will be. (I needed something to get me back into this story mindset.Sorry.) Hope you like!!

* * *

Adriette need not have a job. For the most part she did odd jobs for the boys in the house like laundry, cleaning, and running errands. Because of these tasks, Spot kept a roof over her head and food in her stomach. Before he would go to bed every night, Spot placed some money for the next day on her nightstand. Adriette never asked about the ways and means Spot had of acquiring such money as to care for her as well as him. When she came to live with him after her parents died, she tried to get a job at a factory. Spot insisted, after much argument, that she not. 

"We're family," he had told her. "We help each other out this way." She never doubted that.

Carrying herself up the staircase into her bedroom, Adriette had an extra bounce in her step. A smile had been painted across her lips for the entire morning and she was cheerful to anyone she saw. After cleaning the bunkroom since the time she had woken up, she hopped into her room and plopped herself onto the bed. Thoughts of Caden consumed her mind like moths to a flame. Although she had been attracted to many boys in her life, never had she felt such strong emotions for someone like she had for Caden. There was no doubt in her mind that they would spend the rest of their days together; she would not let that slip away if her life depended on it.

People began to file into the house after selling the morning papers. The building filled with their talk and laughter. Adriette rolled over to her nightstand and pulled open the drawer. She pushed its contents around: a picture of her parents, some old jewelry her mom gave her, a switchblade just for protection, and a book she never read. At last, she grabbed her comb and ran it through her hair. Bouncing over to her dresser, she changed into a more flattering top that was a little tighter and lower cut. After a final look in the mirror, she jogged out the door.

Newsboys started to relax in the house as Adriette skipped downstairs.

"Drake!" she squealed as she saw him at the end of the porch. "My favorite cousin in the whole world!"

She threw her arms around him in a friendly hug as he chuckled under his breath and patted her back.

"Have a wonderful day, cous'!" she called behind her as she trotted into the congested streets.

Spot and Scarlet came into view as she made her way to the bridge.

"Afternoon!" Adriette greeted with a wave. "I'll be back later tonight!" She hugged Spot and placed her head to the side at his chest.

"Where are you going?" he asked, a bit concerned, as she let go and began to walk behind them.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!"

Spot watched her as she seemed to dance through the crowds of people. He blinked over to Scarlet.

"Must be Theo," inferred Scarlet.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Nobody prances like that unless they're in love."

Caden thanked the businessman and handed him the paper. With a polite "have a nice day", he pocketed the penny into his dark gray pants. His pockets jingled as he shook them to feel his day's pay and smiled to himself. A small cloud passed over the sun as it beat down warmly upon his face and cascaded its light onto the city. The temperature had dropped from the usual scorching heat that day to a comfortable afternoon warmth. A slight wind breezed through the air and occasional clouds crept into the light blue sky.

Although, a tornado could have sucked Caden up into a cyclone and it would not have disturbed him. The sunny and merry thoughts that devoured his mind were that of Adriette. Scenes from the party that changed his life replayed over and over again. Adriette had looked angelic and pure standing at the window. Her thin, fair hands were gentle to the touch against his rough, street-life hands. The kisses they had shared were of true love and affection.

Caden debated where he should go to the lodging house to socialize with his friends or to enjoy the day relaxing in the park. He looked to his left and through the herds of busy people was his almost visible home. A few steps took him there, but soon stopped and turned him around. In doing so, he faced a former newsboy that was in his early twenties that had once been of Manhattan.

"How's life treating you these days?" Skittery asked, recognizing Caden from a few years before.

Caden smiled and laughed, shaking Skittery's hand and patting his arm, a sign the two were friends before he had left. "How are you? It's been so long."

"I'm doing well. Yeah, it sure has been a while. Things still the same?" Skittery asked. In one hand he held a brown leather suitcase and he stuffed his other into his brown tweed pocket. His face was clean shaven and washed, and his chocolate brown hair was combed back. Well-composed attire and a look of hygiene and health indicated that Skittery was doing just fine after his newsboy days.

"I guess. Nothing too exciting," Caden replied, deciding to skip the chapter about the Brooklyn rivalry. "What are you doing now?"

"I'm writing, ironically, for a paper in Chicago. I'm on an assignment and I'm in New York for a few days."

Caden laughed; how anyone could spend literally his entire life around newspapers was beyond him. "Good to hear. Well if you're not busy, we can go see some of the guys, maybe go out to lunch if you want."

"Oh yeah, that'd be great. I haven't seen them since…I don't even know when."

"I think everyone's this way." He began walking to where some of the boys would be with Skittery.

They started to make conversation about what was new in each other's lives and reminiscing about the old times. As they turned a corner, the crowds of people seemingly parted and Adriette stood but yards from them. Caden caught his breath as she beamed back at him radiantly. Sound stopped and movement stopped, a thing that happened a lot between them. A smile trapped Caden's face and he began to race toward her.

Adriette jostled through people getting in her way until her lips were locked with Caden's. The world once again halted as they showed each other their affection without being aware of their surroundings. Bitter, old women scoffed at the sight as some smiled at the puppy love.

Caden held Adriette's hands close to his chest and she rested her head on his shoulder. They stayed in the embrace for moments and soaked it in. Moments like that would not be experienced for much longer during their lives.

"I wish we weren't so far away," Adriette told him.

"It's just over the river; we'll be okay."

She looked up at him and kissed him yet again. "I love you!"

With a smile, Caden wrapped around her waist and lifted her off her feet, kissing her on the lips. He didn't care that he was supposed to hate her or that she was even from Brooklyn, and he didn't care who knew it. "I love you!" he shouted.

Skittery walked up behind Caden. "You going to introduce me?"

"Sorry." Caden set her down and placed his hand on her opposite hip bone. Adriette smiled sweetly. "Skittery, Adriette Conlon. Adriette, Skittery."

"Nice to meet you," she said, shaking his hand.

"You too. Conlon as in Spot Conlon?"

Adriette looked down and nodded. "Unfortunately."

* * *

Not long after their meeting, they made their way over to Tibby's to catch up. Skittery, Caden, Adriette, Blink, and Mush sat together in a booth while they mused over good times of the past and ordered rounds of beer, rum, and soda. Mid-afternoon drinks are always enjoyable. Laughter erupted frequently from the small brown table in the corner as phrases such as "do you remember when…" and "remember the time…" were repeated numerously. Caden had his arm around Adriette, who didn't seem to mind at all that she wasn't the very center of Caden's attention. She enjoyed observing how he was normally with his friends. His green eyes sparked every time he laughed his smooth and easy laugh. Tiny (yet noticeable, Adriette discovered) dimples appeared in his cheeks when something _really_ funny happened. The smile after a good long laugh was soft and made her melt all over again when it emerged. 

"Good times…" Skittery finished quietly after a long round of amusement. He dabbed at his eyes and took a drink of his beer. "So, what's everyone up to these days?"

Blink sighed. "Well, they kinda scattered out slowly. Me, Mush, and Jack are the only ones left that you would know."

"Yeah, it's not the same as it used to be," Mush added as he ripped off a piece bread from his roll and proceeded to dunk it into his whiskey. "Things aren't as fun anymore."

"We still see Boots, though; he works at the distribution place," Blink told him. "It's pretty ironic."

It was silent for a couple of seconds as the entire table thought about that, and soon exploded again in hilarity. The thought of Boots in the distribution place was not funny in the least, but when you're in good company with alcohol it is hard_ not_ to see the humor in everything.

"He hated selling those fucking papers!" Blink got out in a high, chuckling voice. "And now he's around them all the time!"

"That _is_ ironic," Mush agreed between laughs and turned to Skittery. "So are you, Skittery!"

"Hey!" Skittery pointed at him, preparing to insult him. His hand fell, though, once he started to chuckle again.

"Dave went out west, being the smart person he is," Caden informed.

"What about Pie-Eater? And Crutchy? And Race?" Skittery asked.

"Pie-Eater works at the bakery a few blocks away," Caden answered as the table began to roar again. "Crutchy works at the Lodging House, so you'll be able to see him soon."

Skittery nodded and finished off his drink, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

"Race got into some bad debts at the track and the last I heard he was selling drugs over by the bridge," Mush finished. "Too close to those fuckers in my opinion."

Skittery cocked his head in confusion. "What fuckers?"

Adriette sat up in her seat, eager to see what Mush had to say. Most likely he would begin to divulge some secrets seeing as he was tipsy.

"Brooklyn. We hate them with a passion," Blink said meanly.

Caden elbowed him in the ribs and apologized to Adriette, giving her a tender kiss on the lips. "I'm sorry," he said. Adriette nodded.

"Sorry. We just hate your leader. And Drake. And many others."

"Why is that?" Skittery asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Long story."

Skittery looked at his pocket watch. "I've got time."

Caden stood up and helped Adriette out of her seat. "Well, we don't and we're leaving." He held out his hand to Skittery, who spit in his first and laughed. "See you later tonight."

Adriette laced her fingers into Caden's as they walked out of Tibby's.


	9. Fate that Makes Sense

**Twilight-**Yay they're here! lol. Anything Newsie-related (like your Brooklyn purse) that I see in the real world makes me smile to myself, because I only have a few friends that are obsessed with Newsies. So I just sit and laugh lol. My art teacher is from Brooklyn and she says "pape" all the time. I laugh every time she says it. She probably thinks I'm crazy.

**Brunette-**Haha, I noticed that when I was reading! No problem though; I'll take it as a compliment lol. My English teacher always tells us "good writers borrow words, but great writers steal words" whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. But that's cool! lol. And I'm planning to stick to the main gist of the story as possible…

**A/N:** I convinced my history teacher to let us watch a clip from Newsies because we studied that time period! It was "The World Will Know" to explain the strike. It was me and this other girl that I sit next to. Half the class was like "what the hell is this" but a few wanted to watch the whole thing!! I was like "watch out, it's a bit addictive…But in a good way of course." I was very proud. Onward to the story!! Oh, Merry Christmas if I don't update before it rolls around!

* * *

The bunkroom was almost the only safe place to be seen for Caden and Adriette. If they were to walk the streets together a loyal Manhattan would have reported it directly to Jack and proceeded to rid Adriette from their sight. They sat in the corner of Tibby's only because not many newsboys were there at that hour, and Caden had threatened Blink and Mush if they talked. But mostly it would be to younger ones to blab; Blink and Mush did not want to stand in the way of Caden's romance.

Sunshine lit up the large room and shined in through every window, reaching every inch of the room as possible. Caden and Adriette had been together on his bed, talking romantically and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears. They were the only two occupants of the room and the few boys in there had left quickly once they saw the couple. Caden rested his head on the pillow, shirt unbuttoned, with Adriette on her stomach next to him and her chin placed on his chest as they conversed with each other deeply. On occasion he would affectionately curl a piece of Adriette's hair behind her ear and cause her to blush slightly yet adoringly. As they talked, she traced small shapes on his smooth and toned chest with her fingertips. They must have been lost in each other for hours without being disturbed, though they hardly noticed.

"Is that why you ran away? Your parents kept fighting?" Adriette confirmed after hearing of Caden's start of being a newsboy. Being so in love, they thought it a good idea to maybe learn a little bit about each other.

He nodded. "Never thought about going back, either. And I never would have met you." He leaned in close to her and gave her a loving kiss.

"That's not true," Adriette told him, "we would have found each other eventually. It's fate." She went back to drawing a heart over his bronzed skin as Caden watched her and smiled to himself. He sat up and pulled Adriette close to him, wrapping his arms around her securely as her back fell onto his chest.

"So, what crazy, mixed-up path led you to me?" Caden asked.

"To put it quite bluntly, my parents died when I was ten and I had nowhere to go. My cousins were living at the lodging house and they took me in. I've never sold a paper in my entire life, though," she giggled. "Spot's more like my brother."

Caden sat up straight. "Does he know?"

Adriette turned around to face him. "Are you kidding? First, he would kill you. Then, he'd kill me. And then, he would finish off Manhattan with help from his alliance with Queens." She turned back around.

"They're aligned with Queens?" Caden asked, surprised and almost nervous.

"I never said that," Adriette quickly answered and turned around completely to face him. "I'm sorry. Let's not talk about it."

"No, it's fine. And, no, let's not talk about it." He placed his hands at the nape of her neck and smiled softly at her. "This is crazy."

Adriette grasped his hands and beamed at him, scooting closer and planting one on his lips. "It may be crazy, but it makes all the sense in the world," she whispered.

A round of deep, romantic kissing began and lasted for several moments. Caden picked her up and set her on her back to the other side of the bed, enticing a giggle, and hovered over her, gazing into her eyes.

"I love you, Caden," she told him through giggles and a bright grin. "_I am so in love with you!_"

"Then marry me!" he proposed suddenly with a smile.

"What?" Adriette's eyes lit up with a glow as an uncontrollable grin spread across her face widely.

Caden smiled back at her as his heartbeat quickened. "Marry me, Adriette Conlon, and let's spend the rest of our days together! Right now I can't even imagine my life without you in it. I don't even want to picture that."

Adriette's lip began to quiver as she placed her hands on his chest. She felt his heart beating and tears filled her eyes. Her lips began to spread once more as the corners started to turn upward.

"And I know you feel the same way, don't try to deny it. So, forget about anything you've ever been taught and marry me. I know it seems crazy, but, like you said, it makes all the sense in the world."

On the verge of having drenched cheeks and drowned eyes, Adriette threw her arms around him screaming, "Yes!"

Caden's eyes widened as he straightened her out in front of him. No words were exchanged as he beamed at her. Quickly he pulled Adriette towards him in the most passionate and romantic kiss ever to be shared.

Staggering footsteps sounded at the end of the row of beds. Jack, scruffy and unkempt, trudged over to his bed to sleep, though it did not deter the happy couple. An aura of strong alcohol followed him as its scent crept into the room. He reached Caden's bunk and cocked his head, trying to recognize the girl who was being showered with kisses.

"Hey," Jack said, managing to grab their attention enough for them to look up. "You look familiar," he told Adriette.

The two looked at each other and quickly stood up, adjusting their clothes and fixing their hair. Adriette looked down to conceal her face and button her shirt. Caden stared at Jack with a playing-dumb expression.

"Aren't you one of Spot's girls?" Jack pointed to her. "No, sister—cousin. You're his cousin, aren't you?"

Adriette looked down still and slid her boots onto her feet hurriedly. She cleared her throat conspicuously.

Caden snapped to attention. "Jack, what are you talking about?" He put on a fake smile and lifted Adriette to her feet, wrapping his arm around her shoulder tightly. "Do you really think I would be _engaged_ to Spot's cousin?!"

Jack looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Engaged?"

"Engaged!" Adriette added and leapt into Caden's arms and pecking him on the cheek. "Can you believe it?!"

The act didn't seem to pass with Jack but was just good enough to get by. The two looked at him, holding their breath to see if the story would fly.

"Already?" Jack asked.

They nodded quickly.

"Isn't it crazy?!" Caden laughed.

"Yeah, pretty crazy." Jack sighed. "Remember what they say, though…" He began to turn around and get situated for bed. "Those who do…something fast, are sure to stumble…or some shit. I don't know. Whatever, congratulations, have fun." He plopped his head onto the pillow and went out like a light.

Caden set Adriette down and looked at her. Both knew that it was time for her to go before it got around to anyone sober. Then, a now rehabilitated and walking Crutchy came through the doorway.

"Caden, think it'd be okay for Skittery to stay here tonight?" he asked in his cheerful and pleasant voice. Skittery appeared in the room with his hair a bit messy and shirt collar loosened.

"Long time no see!" Skittery said in a tipsy voice.

The couple smiled politely and made their way over to the door.

"I've got to walk her back, so you can sleep in my bunk," Caden said.

"What? No!" Adriette protested. "They'll shoot you on sight! As much as I would feel safe with a bodyguard, I can't have put you in danger like that."

"But, sweetie it's late."

Adriette placed her finger at Caden's lips. "No. I'll be fine."

"I'll be the lady's escort!" Skittery offered, waving his hands in the air as if trying to be called upon.

Caden shook his head.

"It'll be fun! They won't recognize me, Caden! Blink and Mush got me up to speed on the whole Brooklyn business. I remember how to fight, too!"

Adriette snickered to herself and looked at Caden, who looked uneasy. "Honey, it's okay. Really. We'll go really fast. I grew up in Brooklyn, I think I can defend myself." She kissed him and did not give him a chance for rebuttal.

Skittery linked his arm into hers and set off down the stairway. "Don't worry, Caden! I'll protect her!"

Caden and Crutchy looked at each other and let out a laugh. He made his way back to his bed for the night. He couldn't help but agree with Adriette that everything would be okay. It was just one of those things that you feel and don't question.


	10. I am Fortune's Fool

**Twilight-**Maybe I HAVE turned a few! That'd be great. One of the girls was like "yeah, I think I'm going to rent that" I was like oh hell yeah! Skittery's my second fave. He's a cutie!!

**Brunette-**Don't you just love Jack lol. Yeah, my computers have been acting up SO badly. My dad has to keep rebuilding them and sometimes I lose documents. I literally have a heart attack every time it happens, but I save everything onto a disk. Most likely I'll be updating a lot; we're snowed in from this damn blizzard and I have nothing else to do but concentrate on this story lol. We all get a little paranoid, it's all right lol. Prince is sooo good, I keep telling you, but I absolutely love it.

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Drake crawled into the cold, Manhattan lodging house careful not to make any noise. He tiptoed quietly past the bathroom stalls and sinks into the bunkroom where the uptown boys slept soundly and vulnerably. He gripped the handle of the dagger close to the side of his leg. His malicious eyes searched the bunked beds meticulously with rage and hate until he came upon what he was looking for halfway across the room.

With a steady and unshaken hand, he held the smooth side of the blade to Caden's throat, and his hand put a strong and forceful hold on his arm. Caden opened his eyes immediately and did not move as he looked down at the knife against his flesh. His breaths were short and ragged as he gulped. Drake stared at him coldly and viciously.

"I don't ever want to see your fucking face in Brooklyn again, do you hear me Manhattan?" His voice was low and quiet as Caden flinched and squirmed slightly. "You were at the party and I know you killed on of our boys. Switch, his name was. Do you want to know how he acquired such a name?"

Caden pressed his lips tightly together. Drake released the pressure on his throat and dragged the knife against Caden's cheekbone slowly without penetrating the skin.

"He was an expert in switchblades, you see."

A jump escaped from Caden's body but was soon suppressed by Drake's forceful constraint.

"Taught me everything he knew."

Orlando, the occupant of the top bunk, rolled around and stirred above their heads. Drake did not move or tear his eyes away. Caden looked up hopefully and started to squirm more. Drake gripped his hand over Caden's mouth, sure to leave small bruises. His lips pursed and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Manhattans…" Drake pressed the point of the blade at the top of Caden's cheekbone and sliced downward, drawing a line of blood. "Are villains."

Caden let out a small cry of pain. Orlando sat up quickly as Drake got to his feet and stared at him with a cruel expression of hate.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Orlando asked.

Drake turned back to Caden and yanked him out of bed by his shirt and threw him down to the floor. This had caused a ruckus within the room and the boys woke up to Drake standing over a helpless Caden. His shoulders fell to his haunches as he sat with his knees bent on the floor powerlessly. Orlando jumped down from his bed and stared in disbelief at his friend's actions.

"Get up, you filthy piece of uptown shit," growled Drake.

Caden crouched at the feet of the Brooklynite with is head sunk low shamefully. A circle of boys in their pajamas crowded around the two, prepared to keep Caden's back loyally. Orlando snuck behind Drake and swiftly put him into a headlock position tightly, allowing him little room to breathe and causing him to struggle violently.

"Get the fuck out of here or else," Orlando warned spitefully.

"Leave him be," Caden ordered in a faint voice.

"What?" Orlando looked at him in utter confusion. "Caden, do you know what you're saying?"

Chase pushed his way to the inside of the circle and to the center of commotion. "Jesus! What the fuck?"

"Leave him be," repeated Caden. "All of you. Don't lay a hand on him."

Without further questioning, Orlando released Drake reluctantly. Drake straightened up and adjusted his shirt collar.

"Caden!" Chase protested. "Why are you acting like this? He's from fucking Brooklyn! You know what we do with them." He proceeded to draw his revolver from his pants that he had worn to bed and hoeld it out in front of Drake with an flexed, outstretched arm. He stared at Drake directly and cocked the trigger. "All of them deserve to burn in Hell."

Caden looked up and pushed down the gun to the ground. "Don't harm him, Chase."

Chase hesitated but soon retreated, obeying the command. Drake smirked and stared back to Caden.

"Be a man, you pussy. Get up!" Drake shouted.

"The reason I will not fight you is one of obligatory purpose. I cannot and will not fight you." He looked up at him with sad eyes and fear.

Drake watched him intently and spat at the ground near him. "'The fuck are you saying? You kill one of Brooklyn, you kill all of us. Get your ass off the ground and give me a reason why you shouldn't be punished."

"I protest, I never killed you! You have no idea why I won't fight and you can never understand! And so, Brooklyn," Caden retrieved the dagger that had fallen from Drake's hand when Orlando pounced at him. He held the blade with the handle facing his foe. "Be satisfied."

A needle could have dropped in the room and it would have seemed as though God himself was pounding a clap of thunder into the building. Silence stirred as the Manhattans gawked, eyes wide and agape, at the display of utter defeat in their eyes. All but one person in the room failed to understand why Caden was acting this way; the answer, though, was that Caden's priorities and obligations were now owed to Adriette Conlon, Drake's cousin.

Orlando gradually became infuriated at the sight and leisurely began to reach for the blade that was hidden underneath the pillow beside him on the bed.

"Be satisfied!" Caden shouted, repeating himself. His hand shook as the dagger was placed before him. Drake snatched the knife from him and was unsure of what to do. The sound of Orlando preparing to carry out his duties as a loyal Manhattan to kill Drake reverberated within his ears, though he did not show it. He gripped the handle of his weapon and took small steps backward slowly while staring down Caden.

Hastily, Drake turned and ran the edge of his blade along Orlando's side deeply and speedily. Orlando let out a scream of pain and clutched his stomach, his knees buckling. Drake pushed him out of the way and busted the window open to jump out onto the fire escape, using the nightstand below him as leverage. In a second he was out of sight. The boys gasped and rushed toward the fallen.

"Fuck!" Chase shoved his way to the front. "How bad is it?"

Orlando waved his free hand at them as if nothing was wrong. "It's just a scratch, a scratch. Don't worry. I'll be fine!"

"At least clean it up!"

Orlando got to his feet and stumbled a bit, but refused to let anyone help. "It's fine!" he reassured everyone and shooed people out of his way to the sink.

Caden had gotten to his feet and stood behind the circle of his Manhattan brothers. A look of concern masked his face and a thin line of blood ran down his cheek.

"Might want to clean that!" Orlando pointed to Caden's laceration in short breaths as he staggered past him.

The assumption that everything was fine and that Drake had made "just a scratch" was taking over the boys of the lodging house. Whispering thoughts and comments to each other, they made their way back to their bunks. Chase walked up to Caden with a look of disgust on his face and did not say anything.

"You don't understand," Caden simply said to him. "I can't."

"Can't defend yourself from _Drake_?" Chase scoffed. "Grow some balls, man."

Harsh coughing and heavy breathing sounded from the bathroom area and Caden and Chase rushed over. They ran quickly to see Orlando lying on the floor on his back. Blood spilled out of his stomach and at the corners of his mouth. He lay still as his life was slowly filched from him. They rushed over to his side and no words were spoken.

"Curse this fucking rivalry…" Orlando got out with strength. "And damn both sides." He coughed sharply once more before his last words were uttered and repeated, "Damn both sides!"

Caden grabbed a towel and placed it upon the wound. "You'll be fine, man, it's all right!" He applied pressure to the deep lesion as Orlando's breaths slowly came to an end.

Chase shook his head and rubbed his tear-filled eyes. "Caden, stop."

"Orlando, it'll be okay, look at me." Caden turned Orlando's head to face him and watched as his eyes closed and his last breath escape from his mouth.

Jack, finally showing up through the window, jumped in and hurried to the three boys on the ground. He had been out late with Elle and was just now trying to sneak back in for the night. "What happened?" he asked loudly. "What the fuck happened?!"

"Where have you been?" Chase demanded. "You call yourself our fucking leader! This is what happens!"

Caden did not move his gaze from his lifeless friend, his brother from childhood. He had died at the hands of Drake who was only after to kill Caden. Orlando was preparing to defend him and Drake had murdered him. Drake had murdered a Manhattan before his eyes and he was going to be punished for it. Caden wanted to make sure of it. A fury surged through his veins as he seized the pistol out of Chase's pocket and bolted out the window where Jack had previously gone through.

The fire escape shook under Caden's speed as he jumped down the steps in nothing but his pants with suspenders bobbling at the sides. The warm, night breeze whipped at his cheeks as he chased down Drake who had sprinted through the streets. He dodged the few people in his way and pushed them to the side. So far, Drake had been running an easy route and wasn't making it difficult to tail him. Block after block, Caden did not slow down. He was going to avenge the death of his friend if his life depended on it.

Minutes passed and Caden finally caught up to him in the middle of the street. He grasped the collar of Drake's shirt and threw him into the side of a building.

"Fucking bastard!" Caden yelled as he held Drake's throat with one hand. With the other, Caden pointed his gun at point-blank range in front of Drake's face. "Orlando just died, and you, or I, or _both_ are going to join him!"

Drake fought to break free of Caden's hold with his back to the red brick. The barrel of the long black revolver stared into his face.

"You won't get back to Brooklyn tonight!" Caden gave him a final push at his throat, stepped back two feet, and aimed the gun to Drake's stomach.

A few Manhattans jogged down the street to meet up with them, waving their arms and yelling. The noise did not daunt Caden's vengeful intention and he cocked the gun and pulled the trigger.

Movement stopped completely as Drake fell to the ground, blood pouring out of his upper abdomen. The boys after them halted and caught their breath. Caden stayed still, staring at the cadaver at his feet in shock and disbelief. He let the gun fall to the ground with a loud thud. Two police officers galloped over to the scene in the distance.

"Caden!" Blink yelled as he was the only to dart over to him. "Leave!"

Caden turned his head toward him, close to sobbing. A roll of thunder and flash of lightning sparked the sky and sounded through the quiet streets. Cold rain started to trickle down from the clouds and soon escalated into a heavy downpour. Caden fell to his knees next to Drake and looked up to the sky, the rain drenching him as he said to himself, "I am fortune's fool!"

"Caden!" Blink repeated. "Get out of here! Get up and leave!" He yanked him up to his feet and pushed him in the opposite direction of the police.

A small crowd of passersby gathered and the Manhattan boys rushed to the corpse of their hated enemy. Caden ran away to no particular destination. He ran and ran without stopping.


	11. A Fairytale

**Twilight-**Blame Shakespeare! I only interpret and twist his words ;-)

**Brunette-**I couldn't leave you a note since I updated so quickly. I'll get ya next time and leave a note TWICE as long!

**A/N:** I wrote this chapter very fast. Forgive me if there are any grammatical errors.

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Spot rolled off the panting girl beneath him, breathless and spent with a smirk on his face. A mid-afternoon storm pounded outside the windows of his third floor bedroom and created a small drop in the temperature. A high-pitched giggle flitted from the girl's lips that were swollen from seductive kisses.

"I guess the rumors are true," she stated in a dreamy voice. "Nobody's better than Brooklyn in bed."

"You mean you actually doubted them?" Spot asked arrogantly and sat, pulling on his pants. He reached to his nightstand and pulled out cigarettes and some matches. Without turning to face her again, he offered the girl one, who gladly accepted.

Spot's brand new girl, fresh off the streets, sat up and leaned against the bedpost. The dark red sheets loosely covered her body and the only thing on Spot's mind: her breasts, which was perfectly okay in Brooklyn's eyes. Her pale blonde hair hung over her shoulders and pieces fell into her dark blue eyes. She looked to Spot who was staring at her with a blank expression and smoke creeping out the corners of his mouth.

"You got a name?" Spot asked sitting next to her with his legs out in front of him, ankles crossed.

Another giggle sounded throughout the room as she crawled over and rested her head on Spot's shoulder, an uninviting move on her part. "Sapphire."

Scarlett had done something awful which had resulted in Spot's time in bed with this bimbo: she had gotten pregnant. Though Spot was beyond frustration and hadn't talked to her since last night when he was informed that he had fathered a child, he didn't kick her out. As of now, she resided on the first floor in a small, lone bedroom until they could figure out what to do with her. Scarlett seemed to lose her luster once he found out. But really she was blessed; a year ago Spot got a girl pregnant and he kicked her out with nothing but the clothes on her back in the middle of the night and in the dead of winter.

Spot was not receptive to Sapphire's adoring actions so fast and he slowly got to the floor, making Sapphire to fall to the bed.

"Something on your mind, babe?" Sapphire inquired in her bubbly voice.

"Eh," Spot grunted and inhaled deeply on his cigarette. He closed his eyes and wished Sapphire would be gone by the time he opened them.

Alert knocks banged from the other side of the door suddenly and Jerome's frantic voice sounded on the other end.

"Boss, we have a situation."

Those words were hardly ever spoken unless something truly bad had occurred. Spot dropped his cigarette and darted toward the door, opening it rapidly. Jerome and Bailey stood at the doorway with looks of anger and exhaustion on their faces.

"What?!" Spot demanded.

Jerome peeked inside to see Sapphire playing with her hair on the bed. Spot closed the door behind him and met with the two in the hallway.

"Drake's dead," Jerome told him bluntly and firmly.

Spot's stomach dropped as well as his jaw. "Dead?"

"Last night. We just found out," Bailey informed him. "Apparently he went uptown to go after someone, there was a fight, one of theirs was killed, and so was Drake."

A hidden knot rocketed to Spot's throat but was quickly gulped back down. His heart beat faster as he processed this knowledge. Drake, his cousin, was murdered by a Manhattan boy. "Who did it? Who fucking killed him?!"

"Caden," Jerome answered hatefully. "Nobody really knows where he is at the moment. But we came to a decision that we need to run by you before it is official: instead of killing Caden, as much as that pains me to say, we banish him."

"To Staten Island," Bailey finished.

Time stood still as Spot rubbed his forehead and let the information sink in. Seeing Caden hung by the neck with a bullet hole in his head was something he wanted badly. But banishment, in which he must live with the knowledge that he murdered in cold blood the kin of Brooklyn, was even more torture than his previous thought. He nodded a few times and looked at his newsboys. "Let's do it. Call a meeting downstairs."

Jerome and Bailey nodded as well and left, shouting down the corridors "meeting, boys! Get your asses downstairs at once!"

Within ten minutes the boys had filed down to the living room obediently and were told the news of Drake. They continued to explain the banishment procedures.

Oblivious to her surroundings and the events that had occurred, Adriette stayed in her room. Not unlike a newly engaged young woman, she was all aglow with exuberance and bliss. Her face was painted with a gleaming smile and an excited spark in her gray eyes. She danced around and hummed to herself, thinking of her love and their future marriage. Many times the proposal replayed in her mind and every time it did, she got the same rush in her stomach. She was going to marry Caden and they would live happily ever after, much like a fairy tale. And then Lexi entered the room.

"Adriette," she said in a somber tone. "We have to talk."

"Of Caden? Indeed, we do!" Adriette pranced over to her friend, grabbed her hands and spinning them around to dance. "What else would we have to talk about? Caden, my fiancé, is the only topic of conversation I will permit!" She twirled around and rotated on her toes.

"Adriette."

"Lexi, my dear, you must be in the wedding! But don't tell Spot."

"Adriette!"

"I'm serious; if he were to find out I don't want to know what sort of violence would follow." She stopped and looked afraid for a split second. "But we won't tell him!" She continued to flutter about the room.

"Drake was killed last night."

"What?" Adriette stopped in her rotations and gaped at Lexi, and the music in her mind seemed to stop. Shock traveled through her system speedily. She stared at her friend in astonishment.

"I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you," Lexi's choked up.

Adriette stepped closer with tears flowing from her eyes and her mouth dropped. "How? When? What happened?"

Lexi closed her eyes and opened them with flooded orbs. "He was in Manhattan last night. Got into a fight at the lodging house. One of their boys died too." Soft sobs consumed her body.

Adriette's eyes were etched with terror and she grabbed a hold of Lexi's hands at her sides. "Lex, tell me it wasn't Caden! Tell me he wasn't killed!" Her body shook with fright and alarm as she began to weep.

Lexi's mouth opened in disbelief and she shook off Adriette's hold. Rage built up quickly within her being. "Caden was the one that killed Drake! Your cousin!" she screamed at a high volume with emphasis on the last two words.

Shaking and cold hands flew to Adriette's mouth as she stumbled backward without tearing away from Lexi's stare.

"They're downstairs discussing his _banishment_!" Lexi cried angrily. "He's going to be banished, Adriette!"

"No…no!" Adriette shook her head, refusing to believe it. "You're lying to me, Lexi! Don't fucking lie to me!" She stepped forward and grabbed her friend's shoulders, bawling and sobbing. "My fiancé did not slay my kin!"

Lightning lit up the gray sky and a clap of thunder rattled the windows. Lexi pushed Adriette away.

"Staten Island," Lexi told her. "If you want to make a fucking life with the murderer of your cousin, you go visit him on Staten Island where Caden is banished!" She turned her back and slammed the door with a loud bang.

Her world came crashing down upon her. Adriette fell to her knees and beat her fists against the wooden floors angrily. _It wasn't true_, she kept telling herself. _Any minute now, Drake will saunter in here like usual and tell me how much he hates Manhattan. I'll roll my eyes in annoyance and he'll be on his way. This isn't happening! Caden did not murder Drake! _The thunder reverberated through the building once more and Adriette jumped to her feet.

She needed something, anything, to distract her. She rifled through her drawers, yanking out clothes and launching them to the floor. She rummaged through her nightstand and spilled its contents. The switchblade glistened in the light and prompted her to pick it up. She held it in front of her and imagined for nearly a second what happened last night uptown. Terrifying thoughts emerged and she threw it down again.

The fairytale was over.


	12. Banishment

**Read-all-about-itgoil-**Yay, a new reviewer!! hehe I'm just bringing my two favorites things together into a story lol. I'm a huge fan of both as well. Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm going to call you RG from now on; that's your nickname lol.

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The rain pounded the heated summer ground of New York City in the evening. Six o'clock neared and umbrellas sprang up in various places in the streets. A herd of nearly fifteen in total, distraught newsboys traipsed over the bridge to meet with their enemies in Brooklyn at the end of the overpass. Silence had taken over them and the only words spoken were those of sorrow and grief. And the mood was no different with the Brooklyn boys. To say they were melancholy and miserable would be an understatement. The torrential downpour was almost an exact reflection of the emotional atmosphere. But add a few lightning bolts in the sky and oversized hail, and it would have been precisely accurate.

Spot stood with his loyal boys, arms crossed stiffly over his chest and eyes staring resolutely at the ground as they waited for Manhattan's arrival. His newsboys surrounded them, a few pacing back and forth, and some with girls who wept with pity. Sapphire ambled up to Spot and placed her hand on his arm, reaching to her tiptoes to whisper in his ear.

"Why are we here?" she asked dumbly and looking around at everyone.

Spot looked at her with an aggravated appearance. A stare of such irritation made Sapphire to step back instinctively and slink away from his sight. Spot was famous for such looks.

Jack, surprisingly sober, led his boys as they neared the end of the bridge. His arms swung slightly at his sides, clenched and rigid. A raindrop landed on his eyelash and he blinked it out, annoyed. He had a feeling that Spot would ask for something truly unfair and irrational; it was his style. But Jack was prepared for the worst. He was ready to argue any type of castigation Spot wanted, because it would probably be some sort of cruel and unusual punishment. Mush appeared at Jack's side.

"We got your back, Jack," he reassured him.

Jack nodded. It was odd; Jack was pitiful as a leader within the past years and somehow his boys always stuck to him in the most desperate of occasions. It was true loyalty.

Quiet swept over the two groups as they stared at each other with detestable expressions. Jack and Spot both glared at one another in the middle. Sheets of gray rain stood between them amid the defiant stare. Boys on either side did the same and one of Manhattan spat at the ground offensively. Jack stepped forward.

"You want to tell us why you dragged us out here, Spot?" he asked.

Spot tightened his hat and adjusted it, taking a step in front of him. "Kelly, you know why you're here. Your boys killed Drake and he was family. Now, I can put up with the small fighting shit, but this time you've crossed the line. Not to mention one of you fuckers came to my party and killed Switch."

Chase became enraged quickly and swiftly leapt forward and was immediately brought back by Mush. "Fucking asshole. That cousin of yours killed my best friend! Orlando _was_ like family to me! Don't fuckin' tell us to come out here and expect to punish _us_ when none of your boys were there."

Spot's jaw clenched and the Brooklyn boys fought to lash out and beat the bold uptown boy to the ground. Mush kept a hold on Chase's collar just in case and the Manhattans stared at Chase to see what else he had to say.

"Just so happens Drake _snuck in_ to _our_ house to murder Caden. He fucking started it! But obviously your heads are shoved way too far up your asses to realize it. Caden refused to fight the lowly shit-head and when Orlando tried to defend him, Drake killed him. And you have no proof that we were even at your fucking party, let alone killing that guy."

The famous Conlon stare took affect and all could feel the rage building up within Spot. Mush's grip tightened, fearing Chase would take it a step further. He did.

"Yeah, you're not so arrogant and cocky anymore, are you?"

Spot lunged forward and punched Chase in the eye, giving grounds for everyone to throw a few clouts angrily. Spot knocked Chase to the ground into a puddle of mud as they punched and swatted at each other furiously. Crouching over Chase, Spot started to strangle him with a firm grasp on his throat. Chase struggled underneath him and gripped Spot's wrists and arms painfully to brake free.

Just as Chase started to panic frantically and the terror was upped to a maximum, Spot was shoved off of him and onto the ground forcefully. A Manhattan pistol pointed at Conlon and launched a bullet into the ground merely inches from his head as he lay on his back in the muddy grass. The fighting came to a stop as the revolver's resonance ripped through the air and Jack stood close to Spot with his arm extended and gun clutched tightly in his hand.

"You need to tell us what the fuck you want, Brooklyn," Jack stated firmly.

Slowly but surely, everyone regained composure and got to their feet, situating themselves to actually talk. Spot wiped the dirt off his cheek and faced the Manhattans with his boys standing beside him, angrier than ever.

"What we need to discuss is Caden," said Spot. "And what's going to happen to him."

Jack squinted at him and narrowed his gaze on him. "And what would that be? And please underplay, because I can already tell it's unreasonable."

"Banishment."

"Fuck no!" Blink protested. "That's low, Spot, even for you!"

"All right, then. Whoever finds him…kills him."

Jack stepped forward and pointed directly at Spot's face. "There is no way I'm letting that happen, Spot. You've got a lot of nerve telling me you're banishing one of my best newsboys."

Spot grabbed Jack's arm. "Kelly, let's talk for a second over here." He turned to his boys. "I don't want any shit from you guys! Leave them alone."

Jack nodded to his. "Don't try anything, either."

The two leaders walked over away from earshot. Spot faced Jack with a serious face.

"Jack…" he started and rubbed his forehead, looking away. "You know I don't want to do this. You know I can't stand this stupid rivalry. However, we can't let this thing go with a fuckin' slap on the wrist. There has to be consequence."

"You're asking too much, Spot. Banishing one of my own and allowing it? I can't do it! And if you don't want to do it, then don't."

"Then you're asking for a war. Nothing inconsistent and what we've been doing. An official war. And we'll declare it on you if we can't negotiate."

Jack's eyes widened. "War?" He knew his boys wouldn't handle it. They couldn't beat them. Brooklyn boys were tougher than Manhattan, tenfold. He closed his eyes and turned to the side, thinking over the dilemma. And there was no way they could "negotiate" between banishment and war. He had been out of such responsibility for so long that it had weakened his concession skills. But he needed to give him an answer soon. War would mean putting the whole territory at risk as opposed to Caden still alive but not uptown. The rain seemed to increase and made a shiver rush up Jack's spine. With a heavy sigh he turned back to Spot and gave him an answer. "Banishment it is."

Spot nodded and they walked back to the group of newsboys who looked particularly goaded and annoyed.

"We've come to a decision," Spot began and stood at the center of the divide between the regions. "Caden is hereby banished from Manhattan and any other territory surrounding the city, to Staten Island."

Enraged groans and shouts erupted from the Manhattan side but were soon cooled by Jack. Brooklyn looked a little higher in satisfaction as their leader continued.

"Anyone who comes in contact with him will report him to either leader, or there'll be hell to pay. I'm not playing around."

Chase sprang at Conlon but was brought back by, again, Mush who was fighting to lash out as well. Spot and Jack shook hands reluctantly and Brooklyn walked away.

The uptown boys were fuming and couldn't believe the actions of their so-called leader as they traveled back to their home. Obscenities were yelled and insults were thrown at Jack, who took them without a second glance. He knew he was killing Caden slowly, but it was better than a whole town full of his dead boys.

* * *

Hiding noiselessly in a place behind a mess of wood and docks was Caden. He was drenched and soaked to the bone. His face was pale and eyes puffy. Unknown to his friends and foes, Caden had been listening and watching the whole meeting.

"Banishment?" he repeated to himself. "Why not stick to death, which is far worse than any fucking banishment!" He punched at a box crate, knocking it to the ground.

"Watch it, man," said a scratchy voice from behind him. The man came into view through the pounding rain. "Sorry to hear about it, Caden. That's rough."

Caden looked at him. "Racetrack?"

"Hey." He let out a round of harsh coughs and faced him. "So, Staten Island seems nice to me."

Muttering obscenities under his breath he leaned his head against a crate. "It's not just that. I'm stuck in something…"

"Like what?"

Caden sighed and turned toward him again. "I'm engaged."

"Well, if she loves you I'm sure she'll move with you."

There was a pause in Caden's words. "It's Spot's cousin."

Race's eyes widened. "You're supposed to marry Adriette Conlon? That's one fucked up family tree if you ask me."

"Well, I didn't ask you!" Caden snapped at him curtly. "Call _me_ fucked up, when you're homeless, selling drugs at the docks in Brooklyn!" He beat his fists against another crate.

Race nodded. "I won't take offense to that."

"Sorry. I'm just a little pissed off at the moment."

"We'll figure something out. Don't worry." Race patted Caden's shoulder and took a swig of something strong and alcoholic.

Caden placed a hand on Race's shoulder. "Thanks, Race."


	13. Adriette's Visitor

**Twilight-**No troubles, bubbles! lol have you seen Wayne's World?! That's where it's from hehe. We will see what happens!! You review so quickly, might I add. No problem there! It seems like I have to wait almost 24 hours before I see that the site has updated. You are lucky lol.

**A/N:** I have nothing to do over vacation so I've been updating quite frequently. Usually I like to wait and see what the reviews are like, but I get antsy lol. Sorry if I can't leave you a note!! I love writing those in the beginning of each chapter…! I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday, whatever you celebrate. This is pretty short, but lets get started!!

* * *

Lexi knocked on Adriette's door lightly. The absence of an answer allowed Lexi to open the door slowly. Despite the third floor location, the room seemed cold and clammy. A crackling kerosene lamp on the nightstand was the only light provider in the dark room. Being late in the evening, the outside did not offer any sort of luminosity. Adriette lay curled up in a ball in a mess of blankets on her bed. Lexi walked to the foot of the bed slowly with the floorboards creaking with every step. She eyed Adriette in messy and wrinkly clothes, hair tousled, and makeup running down her pale cheeks.

"You want something to eat? We're going to go get dinner." Lexi asked in high hopes for a reply.

Adriette didn't answer and simply continued to stare out the window.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Lexi turned and began to walk back to the door, wanting to cry. "Banishing Caden was the only way to avoid a war, Adriette," she told her just before leaving.

Without expression, Adriette grabbed a blanket and pulled it over her head as if trying to escape everything. Lexi exited the room and walked downstairs. Adriette whimpered softly and sniveled. Her tear-stained face was damp and cold. Her eyes were swollen and red. She had been in a depressed state of mind all afternoon and evening and she felt completely hopeless.

Then, a quiet tap came to her window. Adriette poked her head through the covers and saw Caden standing in the dark rain, soaked from head to toe entirely. Damp strands of hair stuck to his forehead and he was in a manner of sorrow, guilt, and regret. Adriette blinked, hoping what she was seeing was real. Caden lifted his arm slightly to wave at her and she immediately got to her feet, the tears once again rushing to her eyes and drowning them. She fumbled with the locks and switches to the window but soon opened it swiftly. Caden crawled in out of the rain. They stood in front of each other for a second and quickly broke the barrier in a tight embrace.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized into her ear, wanting to sob.

Adriette didn't answer and pulled her head back to face him. She touched the long cut on his cheek and assumed that it was from Drake. Caden winced at the initial contact. Adriette brought Caden's lips to hers in a long kiss and unbuttoned his dripping shirt and dropped it into a heap on the floor. She held his body close to hers in a hug and let him soak up some body warmth from her.

"I tried, Adriette, I didn't want to fight him," he told her still in the embrace. "I don't know how you could ever forgive me."

"I do, Caden," she whispered and faced him again. "You're my fiancé, the love of my life. I could never be angry with you." Tears streamed down her face and Caden wiped them away tenderly with the back of his fingers. He leaned in and kissed her again, beginning to unbutton her shirt, which was damp from his own.

The sopping wet clothing began to shred and drop to the floorboards as Adriette and Caden showed just how much they forgave and loved one another that night.


	14. Power Struggle

**A/N:** Apologies for the absence. It's been a mixture of school, practice, and writer's block (I know…how can you get writer's block when you're **remaking** a story?) Well, I just had a little imagination drought. I finished my research papers, though! So now I'll have more time to write what I want to write. Also I've been scribbling shit down for an original story for fictionpress. The thought of having a story on that site scares me! It just seems like it would be much harder to please them; unlike us Newsie freaks, they don't have much of a cult lol. Anyway, have fun reading!!

**RG and Twilight-**I'm sorry! That's just how Shakespeare wrote the story lol. It is a tragedy though, and I'll do my best to make it good.

**Brunette-**Thanks for the compliment! Hehe.Okay, I have to ask you: how the hell do you juggle all of those stories?! And they're all really good! I'm struggling with two! Claps Props to you, hun. I have tons of respect for you for that lol.

* * *

The following day, Spot tapped on the first-floor bedroom door and without waiting for a response, waltzed right into the room. He walked over to the edge of the bed next to a sleeping Scarlett. She lay curled up underneath a thin blanket with her face buried into a modest pillow. Her face was pale and her usual dark makeup had vanished. Spot nudged her shoulder not too lightly and said rather loudly, "Hey! Wake up."

Startled, Scarlett gasped and came out of her slumber. She blinked a few times and looked at Spot. "What the fuck, Spot?" she mumbled.

Spot rolled his eyes at her tone and gathered his slowly dying patience. "Banished Caden yesterday."

"I heard." She rubbed her eyes and sat up with her back against the head of the bed. She collected the blanket and pulled it up to her stomach. "And was that after you fucked that Sapphire slut, or before? My mind kind of went a little crazy with the sounds of you two up there." Her attitude was of scathing sarcasm.

"Forget it," Spot simply said and got to his feet. "Forgive me for trying to talk to you. And you're not that far from being that whore, so you can just shut the fuck up about that. You want out so badly, I can do that!" He clenched his jaw as they glared at one another. Scarlet looked away and leaned her head against the wall, closing her eyes.

"Sorry," he apologized and went back to sit on the bed. "I'm a little stressed."

"No shit." Scarlet fell back down onto her side and looked up at him from her pillow. "I hear you dodged a war with Jack."

Spot scoffed and absentmindedly began to rub Scarlet's back while looking out the window into the gray sky. "Pussy. A real leader would've gone to war. What kind of person allows the banishment of his boys?"

"I don't think Jack's decision was the problem."

He looked at Scarlet with a quizzical expression. "Meaning what?" he asked coldly.

Scarlet paused. "Nothing. I'm in too truthful of a mood right now; must've been all of Sapphire's annoyingly loud expression of pleasure from you."

Conlon started to say something but stopped and let out a reluctant sigh of soft laughter, drawing a chuckle from Scarlett as well.

"She got to you too, didn't she?" she asked with a knowing smile.

"That's beside the point." A grin fought its way to visibility and Spot shook it away quickly. "What do you mean 'Jack's decision'?" He asked, growing serious again. "And I don't care that you're in an honest mood right now. Tell me."

"Well, it sort of says something about you if Jack doesn't want a war, doesn't it?"

Spot looked around. "He's scared of Brooklyn, so what?"

"No." Scarlet sat up and got to eye level with him. "It's always been easy for you to declare war on someone, Spot. Remember what I said about losing your touch? If you can't get someone to go to war with you, your power's decreasing. See?"

Spot furrowed his eyes and looked away from her. "So you're saying that because I can't scare someone into a war, I'm weak? I don't understand." Impatience began to take over Spot once more.

"No. You wanted the war to end this rivalry. Jack doesn't want a war because he knows he can lose against your _boys_; but what if you're no more powerful than he is? If that's the case, he doesn't want to waste his time fighting you, and _that_ is saying something. Get it?"

Spot thought back to the vision of Jack standing close to him with a gun pointed straight at his face. Where was his power then? He nodded and understood what Scarlett was trying to say.

She sat back and looked up at the ceiling tiredly. "Whatever happened to that whole Theo and Adriette thing, by the way? Are you still having them get married?"

An old statement Scarlett made when Theo first took interest in Adriette echoed back to him: _"…If Theo takes over as leader, seeing as how you are getting a bit old, and he marries Adriette, you'll have family to keep you up there above everyone else."_

Spot rubbed her leg with an evil smirk. "Oh, it's still on." He swiftly jumped up and exited the room, blowing her a kiss in thanks for helping him come to this realization; Theo had to marry Adriette if he still wanted partial control over Brooklyn.

Newsboys were scattered all over the house as Spot ran around in search Theo. He checked in the rooms on the each floor, opening the door without any care that he was intruding in on anyone. Hoping that Adriette would know of his whereabouts, he headed for her bedroom. A sound of her giggle sounded from the other side of the door as he almost opened it when Theo appeared at the top of the steps.

"There you are!" Spot greeted and walked over to him. "Wait, who's in there making Adriette laugh, then?" he thought out loud.

"'Morning, Spot. It's probably Lexi," he said with a grieving voice over Drake. "Why the fuck are you so happy?"

"Something's been brought to my attention." He put his arm around Theo's shoulder and walked him downstairs. "You're still interested in Adriette, right?"

"Of course." His face lightened with the mention of her name.

"Wanna get married?"

* * *

"I really have to go," Caden told Adriette as they lay next to each other in bed "It's already morning."

"No!" she protested giddily and pulled him back on top of her. "It's still night!" She placed a hand over his eyes to cover them. "See? No light!"

Caden laughed. "Ah, yes, so it seems." Blindly, he pressed his lips to hers in a contented kiss.

Adriette giggled and pulled the covers over them. "Let's just not leave this room ever. That way you won't have to go away for the rest of our lives!"

"Sounds good to me. But where will our wedding be, then?"

"Right here, of course. Where do you think?!"

Caden pulled her over as they playfully wrestled and chased each other around the bed, Caden in his pants and Adriette in his shirt. She giggled as he kissed her neck teasingly as he discussed future plans of their life in her bed.

"Where will we have our meals?" he inquired.

"Oh, we won't need to eat."

"Right." He smiled and looked at her. "Welcome home, sweetie."

Another giggled came from Adriette's mouth but was soon cupped over by Caden's hand as he looked behind him at the door. Adriette furrowed her eyebrows until she heard it too.

"Spot's talking to someone," he whispered and let his hand away from her mouth.

Adriette sat up and listened intently. "I can't figure out what they're saying, but it sounds like Theo. You should go."

"Oh, honey, but we just moved in!" Caden joked as he gathered his things and started to leave.

* * *

**A/N:** Felt good to get back to this story! Let me know if the whole power explanation by Scarlett was confusing. I didn't explain my thoughts as well as I had hoped. Review, por favor! 


	15. I Long to Die

**RG and Twilight-**I'm glad you guys thought it was a close call! I wasn't sure if I put that out well enough to be that close lol. Good to hear from you both again! Love your reviews!!

**A/N:** Dude! I just realized this story is almost over! It's winding down pretty quickly. I just now hit me lol.

* * *

The house was noiseless and almost empty in the early afternoon since the newsboys had been out working and selling papers. Spot had been discussing marriage plans in full detail with Theo as Scarlett entered Adriette's vacant room. She sat in an old chair in the corner while she waited for Adriette to return; she suspected she was busy doing the chores around the house, picking up the bunkroom and cleaning up here or there. Her hands laced together and rested on her lap gently as she heard Adriette making her way up the old, creaky staircase.

Adriette hummed to herself as she glided into the bedroom and set the empty laundry basket down on the floor, oblivious to Scarlett sitting in the corner.

"'Afternoon," greeted Scarlett in a flat tone.

Startled, Adriette jumped and turned to face her. "Hi."

"How are you doing? I heard you took the news about Drake pretty hard."

"Oh. Yeah, it's horrible; I've been depressed ever since it happened…" Adriette let out a fake sniffle and rubbed her nose.

Scarlett got to her feet and slowly paced toward her with a smile on her face. "Well, I know something that will cheer you up."

Adriette looked her, confused, and said nothing.

"You remember Theo, right? Of course you do," Scarlett said before giving her a chance to answer. "Apparently he's more than fond of you and he's talking of a marriage to you!"

Adriette's eyes widened and she stepped back, infuriated, betrayed, and scared. "No!" she protested. "Who did this? Was this Spot? I won't do it!"

"Adriette, I thought you liked Theo. What are you talking about?" She furrowed her eyebrows and stared at her.

"How could you do this?" Adriette stomped out of Scarlett's way angrily, knocking random things to the floor in a fit of irritation. "I would rather marry Caden, the murderer, than Theo! You go tell Spot I won't do it."

"Oh, cousin of mine!" Spot called from the hallway. "I've got some news!"

Adriette looked to the door, suddenly afraid of what would happen. Scarlett made her way to the door while glaring at Adriette.

"You tell him," Scarlett said coldly as she opened the door and Spot entered with a devious smirk on his face and evil glint in his gray eyes.

"What's going on?" he asked, befuddled and unaware.

Scoffing to Adriette, Scarlett exited the room with a temper. Adriette stood powerless in front of Spot with her hands fidgeting behind her back nervously. Her pulse had quickened as she stared at her cousin that had been so deceitful in arranging a marriage without her consent.

"You must feel so proud right now," Spot leered, "to marry someone like Theo. I must say I'm quite the matchmaker."

Fury built up within Adriette and she tried her best to keep her cool. In a quiet voice she replied, "Proud can I never be of what I hate."

Spot's expression fell and he narrowed his gaze at her. "Excuse me?"

"I won't do it. I won't and you can't make me."

He stepped toward her, his patience unraveling quickly. "Why the fuck not?"

Adriette gulped and her heart pounded. "Spot, you can't tell me who to marry. I'm your cousin, not your daughter. Sorry, but I'm not marrying Theo."

Suddenly Spot gripped Adriette's upper arms forcefully and Adriette gasped, frightened.

"Who gave you all of this?!" he shouted angrily. "Look around, _dear cousin_, if it weren't for me you'd be fucking dead! I saved your fucking life! The least you can do is to repay me with this!" He tightened his hold on her and dug his fingertips into her arms.

"Let me go! You're-"

"Shut up! You shut your fucking mouth! I gave you everything you ever needed and you've shown me no gratitude whatsoever!" His voice was reaching higher volumes with every shout and those who had been occupying the lodging house were making their way toward the room to see what was going on.

Hot tears streamed down Adriette's cheeks as she cried into the face of the power-hungry leader of Brooklyn. His countenance was twisted into anger and rage, a look that scared her to death. But she couldn't bow down to him at this time; she couldn't let him get away with it.

"I would rather marry Caden _a thousand_ times before agreeing to do anything for your benefit!" she screamed.

Lexi and Scarlett hustled into the room.

"One day!" Spot yelled. "I'll give you one day of freedom before you marry Theo." He lifted her off the floor a few inches and held her above eye level with his fingers burying into her delicate flesh. "You're lucky I'm giving you even that long," he growled and threw her to the floor.

Adriette let out a cry and stormed out of the room. Scarlett rushed out to follow him and Lexi ran and knelt to her friend's side.

"Oh God, Lexi," Adriette looked at her with tearful eyes. "What am I going to do?! I'm engaged to Caden, I can't marry Theo! Lexi, you have to help me!" She sat up and faced her friend who looked helpless and drained of any comforting thoughts.

"I'm so sorry, Adriette," she began. "But maybe it's better this way. It's just easier to be with Theo."

Adriette hesitated and rapidly got to her feet and bolted out the door and downstairs. She shoved her way through the crowded streets, the wind whipping back her tears and hair behind her. Her mind was spinning out of control and she had nowhere to go. She didn't know where she was running to, but she knew she had to get out of the house. For minutes she sprinted in and out of the streets and darted between anyone that got into her way. She stopped her escape until she came to the docks.

The breeze tossed her hair around and she panted heavily through sobs of frustration and stress. She stood but inches from the edge of the dock and looked down into the dark water. Her breathing was heavy and short and her body trembled.

"You might wanna step back a little bit," a man advised from behind her.

"Leave me be, I know what I'm doing!"

"No, no, I don't think you do." He placed himself to her side and looked at her. "Aren't you Adriette Conlon?"

She closed her eyes and opened them only to have everything blurred. "And who are you?"

The man took his cigar out of his mouth. "Name's Racetrack."

"Well, Racetrack, you don't know my story, so I suggest you just get the hell away from me."

"I know you better than you think," he told her. "Why, you're engaged to Caden. He's from Manhattan. Caden's banished."

"That's nothing compared to what just happened. But just get away from me! Don't you understand?!" She turned her head toward him. "If I get my fiancé banished to Staten Island and my cousin's making me marry Theo, I don't deserve to live! If I have 'one day of freedom' until I must be wed to someone that repulses me against my will while I'm engaged to another, I shouldn't be alive! There is no hope. So please, Racetrack, step away, I long to die!"

Racetrack grabbed hold of her arm quickly and pulled her back to land. "I think I can help you out."

Baffled, she gave him a puzzled look.

"You're getting married in, what, one day you said?" He took a puff of his cigar and blew smoke in the opposite direction of her. "Well, I think I can give you something to get you out of it."

"How do you propose to do that?" she doubtfully asked him.

Racetrack rummaged around in his pockets and pulled out a small glass bottle and held it out in front of her. Its contents were thin and of a golden brown color. "You drink this tonight and it'll look like you're dead to anyone to sees you, when really you are in a deep sleep. Tomorrow morning they'll wake up, see that you're 'dead', and they'll hold a ceremony for you. Meanwhile, you'll wake up once everyone is gone and run away."

Adriette blinked. "Can I trust you?" She held the bottle in her hand and examined it.

"Are you beyond the point of trust?"

She looked at him. "How much?"


	16. A Drink to Caden

**Twilight-**I'm pretty sure there will be 2 or 3 more chapters, most likely 2, and then an epilogue. Spot…you just have to love him no matter what he does hehe.

**Autumn-Park-**NEW REVIEWER!! I'm so excited! I'm a pretty big Shakespeare fan as well; the man was a genius. Have you seen Shakespeare in Love? Good movie. I'm sorry I stole your idea! You go right ahead and write your own lol. Don't let me stop you!! But thanks for the compliment!

* * *

Adriette was in a state of mind that was unusually clear yet was busting at the seams with screaming thoughts. She had wandered around Brooklyn aimlessly for hours by herself until the early evening. A vision of untidiness, her cheeks were raw and cold and her eyes were puffy; her hair was a mess of tangles and knots; her clothes were wrinkled and her skirt had gained saturation after stepping absentmindedly into puddles. Upon her face she wore an expression of drained emotion; rarely did she blink and her lips had been sealed together tightly. In her clasped hand was the glass bottle of the concoction given to her by Racetrack, the gloomy dealer by the docks.

Just before darkness set in over the city, Adriette returned home to an uneasy air about the house. Usually by this time the boys had been socializing and such, but now one could hear a pin drop onto the floor. Clearly, Spot's mood had gone around and affected everyone. As she stood in the small entryway, boys moped around and gave her sideways glances. Jerome passed by her with almost a glare in his eyes while others gave her nervous looks. But Adriette was not one to hold a grudge against someone for that, and she did not pounce upon those who treated her in such a way. She returned home to take care of things and that was it. First, she had to find Spot.

Adriette drew in a deep breath at the door of Spot's bedroom and pushed her hair out of her face to look somewhat better. She smoothed over her clothes one time and knocked on the door lightly. Footsteps paced toward the door and slowly it was opened. Spot stood in front of her with a stern look on his face. Without any words being exchanged, he started to close the door. Adriette's foot stepped in front of her impudently before the wall, preventing it to be shut out completely. Spot's face formed into an annoyed expression.

"Spot, we need to talk," she told him hopefully with her foot still acting as a block.

He rolled his eyes and looked the other way.

"Please?"

"Fine," he agreed and opened the door wide to let her in. Scarlett stood behind Spot with her arms folded across her chest.

"I wanna apologize for this afternoon," Adriette said in a quiet voice while facing him with her hands twiddling behind her back. "I overreacted."

"Ya think?" Spot replied sarcastically.

Adriette bit her tongue and inhaled deeply to keep her calmness. "I'm sorry. And I guess you're right; Theo doesn't seem that bad…"

Spot's visage perked up at her statement and he cocked his head at her.

"He's actually pretty nice, in my opinion at least," she lied; everything about the man sickened her to the core. She looked up at him, putting on a saddened and ashamed puppy-dog face. "Do you forgive me?"

Spot sighed and paced around a few steps, rubbing the back of his neck and putting his hand into his pocket. Adriette could tell he was actually jumping for joy inside but was trying to fight it to keep his tough-guy image; other than sex, Spot Conlon's favorite thing to do was to say "I told you so".

"I guess," he finally responded with a shrug. "Still on for tomorrow, right?"

Adriette fought back to the urge to smirk. "Yes."

Spot nodded and it was her cue to leave. Adriette turned on her heels and smiled to herself, envisioning _herself _screaming at the top of her lungs "I told you so" loud enough for him to hear from Staten Island. Tomorrow she would wake and appear to be dead. She would not marry Theo. And she would finally be with Caden.

Just before retiring to bed, Adriette retrieved the bottle of golden liquid. She tucked herself under the modest blanket and sat up. Her hands gripped the glass cap of the vial and pulled it off. Her heart beat furiously as she gazed at the potion.

"Such a small terror…" she observed. "What if is doesn't work? Can I trust that Racetrack? What if it doesn't work and I'm forced to marry Theo tomorrow?" She set the bottle down onto her nightstand and yanked open its drawer to retrieve the dagger that sat at the bottom. "I'd rather die than marry Theo. And if this concoction doesn't work, I'll have to do it myself." She set the dagger onto the surface of the nightstand.

Adriette held the vial up to her face again. "Caden…I drink to you."


	17. I Lie with Thee Tonight

The small newsboy sat in the suffocating, diminutive closet at the Brooklyn Lodging House with the kerosene lantern glowing dimly in the corner. A quiet boy of almost thirteen years, he squirmed in his chair nervously as beads of sweat trickled down his face and his feet tapped against the dusty floorboards anxiously. His wrists had been tied behind his back and at the back of the wooden chair that he had been forced upon, and the rope was rubbing his flesh raw and drawing blood. He had been waiting for Spot's arrival for what seemed like ages and the minutes seemed to slowly melt together. It had been another normal morning for him; he had gotten his papers and as he was going to sell them, he was kidnapped by two Brooklyn newsies and taken to their lodging house. Why they needed him he did not know; but he had a feeling that his roots in Manhattan had plenty to do with it.

Suddenly the door burst open and the morning light flooded the room. Two intimidating boys stood before him and he gulped without saying a word. His big eyes were full of fright and his heart quickened to a mile a minute.

"Spot's coming down to talk to you. You best watch your manners," he said sarcastically and nastily.

The two boys leaned against the walls on either side of the Manhattan boy. They cracked their knuckles and twisted their necks as to intimidate the poor newsie. Spot, dressed in a spiffy, black suit, stomped into the room, his face coated in his usual smirk.

"'Morning," said Spot. "Dodge, right?"

Dodge gulped again and nodded. "Yeah, that's my name."

Spot left the room and came back in an instant with another chair, facing it in front of the boy and sitting down at eye level. "You remember Caden, right?"

Dodge nodded furiously.

"And you remember my good cousin Drake, correct?"

Again he nodded.

"Then of course you remember how we decided to banish Caden to Staten Island. It was a horrible thing he did, I bet you would agree. Murder is truly heinous; I think you would agree on that too. What I need from you is very simple."

Dodge blinked a few times and fidgeted with his fingers behind is back. "W-What's that?"

Spot lowered his face and peered at Dodge with upward looking eyes, sending shivers through Dodge's body. "I need information. You're a smart little kid, I can tell. Surely your boys have gotten a hold of Caden somehow and they must have done something with him. Where are they hiding him?"

"No, sir! I swear!" protested Dodge.

Spot nodded at Jerome and Bailey. Without hesitation, Jerome grasped Dodge's perspired throat with one hand, and Bailey gripped his arms from behind the chair to ensure that he would not be going anywhere. Dodge began coughing and struggling for air while Spot placed on icy glare upon him.

"Staten Island…I-I swear he's there!" Dodge muttered through forced breaths.

"I don't believe you, Dodge. Nobody's found him yet, isn't that a little suspicious? You guys have got him." Spot rose and stood above the besieged newsboy. "Come on, Dodge, I need information! He's got to be better punished."

"I'm-not lying, Spot!"

Dodge started to kick and thrash violently in his seat as Jerome and Bailey only tightened their hold on him. Spot pursed his lips.

"Fine," he finally said and shooed Jerome and Bailey away from Dodge. Spot suddenly punched Dodge in the nose, breaking it instantly. "But if I find out that you lied to me—"

"Spot!" Lexi called at the doorway, looking distraught and hysterical.

"What?" he looked back at her.

"You have to come upstairs. Now! It's an emergency."

"Can't it wait?"

"It's Adriette." Lexi paused and sniffled.

Spot ran out of the closet and barreled up the steps. He climbed the flights of stairs and rushed into Adriette's room. A choking, sharp pain swelled up in Spot's throat. Adriette laid on her bed motionless with her face buried into her pillow and one arm hanging weakly over the edge of the mattress. He hurried over to her in disbelief and felt her delicate yet cold fingers. Her eyes shut tightly and her body lay underneath a pile of sheets and blankets. Spot fought back tears and swallowed the lump in his throat. Was this is doing?

Scarlett and Theo came into the room asking what all the commotion was. Spot said nothing as he stared at the seemingly lifeless girl and he couldn't move. Guilt wrapped itself around his throat and choked him. Scarlett gasped and threw her hand over her mouth as Lexi sobbed in the corner with tears streaming down her face. Theo's mouth was agape and eyes turned to melancholy while he stepped forward slowly.

"Conlon, is she—" Theo started.

"What does it fucking look like, Theo!" Spot shouted angrily with grief.

Theo swallowed and bit down on his quivering lip. Spot began to pace up and down the room with stomps and couldn't help but feel he was to blame, for somewhere inside him he knew this was his fault. Had he given Adriette a chance not to marry Theo, this never would have happened.

"What should we do?" Lexi inquired, trembling.

All eyes shifted to Spot for an answer.

"Everyone downstairs," he ordered in a low voice. "Call for a meeting."

Desolately, everybody exited the mournful room and made their way to the first floor living room. As they did so they answered to those who had asked, that Adriette was, in fact, dead. The house began to quickly fill with gloominess and distress. Spot's only female cousin, the one who always wore a smile and cleaned up after them, was no longer alive. The news came to Jerome and Bailey, who were instantly shocked, and left the closet, leaving Dodge in there by himself.

The name of the unfortunately deceased girl rang in Dodge's mind. Why did it sound so familiar? And then it hit him like a ton of bricks: Adriette was Caden's fiancé that was kept secretive and quiet. But he had heard him talking with Skittery about it when he had returned. Dodge needed to get out of this closet, one reason being to escape Brooklyn, and another being to inform Caden of the news. He remembered hearing a rumor flying around that Caden was still in Brooklyn somewhere and was seen with Racetrack by the docks.

More than ever he writhed about in his chair to break free from the ropes. He pulled and twisted and heaved his wrists apart with all of his strength, soon causing pains to jolt up his arms. Finally, after almost five minutes, he was able to yank apart the ropes and he was free, rings of rope still tied individually to his wrists.

Carefully and quietly he crept out of the closet and snuck out through the back of the house. Determined to get to Racetrack to see if he know of Caden's whereabouts, he pushed his legs hard to the ground with every stride of his speedy step. The docks were not very far from the Lodging House, thankfully, and he searched around for Racetrack.

"Race!" he called out, moving things around to find him.

"Over here," replied Racetrack from behind a stack of crates.

"Thank god! Where's Caden?"

"Whoa, kid, what's going on? Who are you?" Racetrack asked suspiciously, afraid of Dodge being hired by Spot to track down Caden.

Dodge wiped away blood from his nose with his shirt sleeve and looked at him. "It's me, Dodge. Don't you remember me from Manhattan?"

Racetrack squinted at him.

"You left when I was younger but I know we've met before…"

"Ohhh," Racetrack said as if everything was coming back to him now. "Yeah, yeah, Dodge, I remember. Why do you need Caden?"

A movement spurred about behind the docks. Dodge looked down.

"Adriette's dead."

"What?" a voice asked in disbelief from behind them. Caden appeared with his chest moving up and down heavily.

"No!" Racetrack shouted, lunging to get a hold of Caden, who had began to bolt down the street toward the lodging house. "Wait! She's not really dead!" He chased after him and tried to keep up with his speed. But unfortunately his years of smoking and drugs caught up with him and he stopped, wheezing and coughing wildly. Dodge raced up to his side.

"What do you mean?" Dodge asked, puzzled.

"That's…just a drug I gave her…" Racetrack breathed. "Go get him, Dodge, make sure he knows…she's still alive."

Dodge took off down the streets and sped after Caden. The crowd of people interrupted his vision patterns and daunted his ability to follow after him. At a few buildings away from the lodging house he at last caught up with him. Dodge ran in front of him and pushed him to the side of a building.

"It's not what you think, Caden!" Dodge told him.

"Let me go, Dodge."

"Don't do anything stupid," he warned.

"I know what I'm doing!"

"No, Adriette isn't—"

Caden pulled a pistol from his pants and held it to Dodge's temple. A few gasps from innocent bystanders reverberated through the street and some ran in the other direction. Dodge froze completely and stopped talking. "Don't make me do this, Dodge. I know what I'm doing!" He took one final look at Dodge and ran to the lodging house again, but spotted a medicine shop and instead ran towards that.

With an outstretched arm he entered the shop and marched toward the counter. A very much terrified doctor crouched slightly and held his arms in front of his face, quaking and panting.

"I need your worst drug," Caden ordered.

"W-What?" the balding man asked.

"You heard me!" he choked. "I know you have some deadly shit in here, am I right?"

"Perhaps, lad…but to give it to you would be completely illegal!"

Caden moved forward and pointed the gun directly between his teary frightened eyes. "Is it still illegal with a fucking bullet in your head?"

Without taking his eyes away from Caden, the old man grabbed a bottle of a mysterious liquid from underneath the counter and handed it to him.

"Take this. Guaranteed to knock someone out completely," he quivered.

"You mean it'll kill the person who takes it?"

"Yes. Instantly."

Caden took his gun away from the doctor's head and bolted out the door with the medicine gripped tightly in his hands. As he made his way to the fire escape just under Adriette's window, he placed the poison in his pocket and let the gun fall from his hands onto the ground with a loud _click_.

The escape shook violently as Caden bounded up the rickety structure. He peered through Adriette's window and his heart dropped; it was true. What Dodge had told him was true. His love, his fiancé, lay upon the bed. He clutched his heart and began to weep, almost afraid to accept it. But he had to complete his actions. And so he opened up the window and crawled in slowly without tearing his gaze off Adriette.

Caden knelt beside her bed and laid his head against the sheets with drowned eyes and a sniffling nose. He rubbed Adriette's arm and traveled toward her hand to intertwine his fingers with hers, though they did not have much feeling. He brought his head back up and turned her face toward his.

"Oh god, my love here lies with death. Adriette, my fiancé. How could you possibly be dead? No, I won't believe it. Your lips still red and your cheeks still pink. And unlike the dead your touch isn't cold and complete. But I can tell there is no more life in your eyes and there is no verve left in your laugh despite your state.

"Adriette, I love you. Oh I've been in love with since the moment I laid eyes upon you and from the moment we first spoke. That was Spot's party, if you don't recall. Orlando and Chase didn't want me to go, but there was this feeling I had, this intuitive feeling that I just could not shake. I knew something about that night would change me, and it was you. You were wearing red because I remember how your hair fell against it and lit up your cheeks and eyes. I remember every second of that night. The delicate touch of your hand as I laid mine upon it, the soothing sound of your voice, and the affection of your kisses. Remember those? I do and I'll never forget them. I won't forget even when I'm dead.

"And do you also remember how we decided to live in this bed for the rest of our lives? We would get married here and raise our kids here. I vowed never to leave your side.

"And I know you can't hear me or talk to me, but I want you to know I can't live this life on my own and I won't. You and I were supposed to be together until the day we die. I only just began to live until you walked into my life, and, well, you must start what you finish…"

Caden took his hand away and sat on the bed beside her. He brushed his hand against her forehead and swept the hair away from her face. A sob escaped from his mouth and he wiped off his cheeks.

"Eyes, look your last. Arms, take your last embrace. And lips, your last righteous kiss." He moved toward Adriette and kissed her lips sweetly. Holding up the bottled poison he popped its cap off and held it in front of his face. "Here's to my love."

Caden threw his head back and guzzled down the strong, burning liquid as it poured all the way down his throat to the deepest pits of his stomach. He lowered his head and rubbed his eyes closed, leaving the poison to do him in. He again laced his trembling fingers with hers. Caden started to cough in the other direction and seized his chest and throat. He moved over to the other side of Adriette and placed his head against the pillow as his heart rate quickened and he started to breathe heavily with much difficulty. His eyelids shut and prepared for the worst, still coughing and struggling for air.

Adriette suddenly opened her eyes and looked to the side of her. "Caden?" she asked weakly in a desperately vexed voice.

Caden opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. His eyes enlarged as he looked at her with open lips. His breathing started to grow short and forced.

Adriette turned to face him and hold him closer to her, noticing the bottle in his hands. "What is this? Caden, please don't leave me! Oh god, no, Caden…" She embraced him tightly and wept greatly. Once she realized that his movements had stopped, she froze and drew back. Her hand clasped his firmly as she turned to dig around for the dagger on her nightstand.

Still sobbing and with tear-stained cheeks, she held the pointed end in the direction of her stomach. _O happy dagger! This is thy sheath. _And Adriette thrust the knife into her. _There rust, and let me die.

* * *

_

The following morning was nothing but a downpour of rain and the temperature had dropped unusually low for July in New York City. A large amount of newsboys had gathered at the Brooklyn lodging house and practically no words were uttered. The two territories' leaders met at the steps of the porch, each too ashamed and in shock of what had happened the previous night. All eyes placed themselves to the two young men and air could have dropped. And for the first time in years, they shook hands.

_A glooming peace this morning with it brings;  
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head  
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;  
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:  
For never was a story of more woe  
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

* * *

_

**A/N:** Woo! That was fun, let's do another! lol. And so ends my Shakespeare epic. I hope you all enjoyed it since, I must say, I'm rather proud of it. Thanks to ALL of my loyal reviewers: **Twilight-Maiden, Brunette, Read-all-about-itgoil, and Autumn-Park. **You guys are awesome! But I really am considering doing another Shakespeare: Julius Caesar. Right now it's all in my head and I have work out the kinks and such. But I'm working on an original story for (entitled The Beautiful Life), so Caesar may just have to wait! My account on fictionpress is still love97 if you ever want to stop there and read it. It won't be posted for a little bit, though. I'm talking too much. I hope you liked the story, thanks for reading! Bye!

Love


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